Hidan and a kunoichi
by BlackWolfOfTheTurks
Summary: A kunoichi named Fran, a new Hidden Leaf ninja and bestfriend to Naruto, encounters Hidan from the Akatsuki. Slowly, the lives of the two become intertwined and lead to something else: Love.  Hidan slightly OOC.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Hi guys and girls! OK so this is a new story on Hidan from Naruto Shippuden and as the title implies it's gonna involve love. Basically the kunoichi is a character I invented called Fran who comes from a clan with a kekkei genkai called the Majigan. It is a power in the eyes (like the sharingan, byakugan, etc) which when activated gives the person extreme strength. In each member of the clan the Majigan takes a unique colour, Fran's being bright blue. Each member of her clan activates their majigan through their emotions, like extreme sadness or deep love. Fran's is activated through anger. When mastered, the person changes form temporarily each time the majigan is activated and they become extremely beautiful. Her normal eye colour is black, her hair is also black and long, she has a fringe. She also wears a white, sleeveless hoodie, a black skirt and black boots. She's 17 years old and is the bestfriend of Naruto, Sakura and Sai as well as of the other ninja squads like team Guy, team Kurenai, those.

Well that's everything I think. From now on, hope you enjoy the story!

"Naruto! That's enough training for today," said Kakashi, watching with anxiousness as Naruto seemed determined to keep training for eternity if he could.

"Aaaww come on sensei! I gotta keep training! I haven't perfected my Rasengan yet!" Naruto moaned loudly.

"Naruto, we'll continue tomorrow. OK?" Kakashi said calmly, yet making it clear that he was calling the training to a halt.

"Aaaww maaaan!" Naruto grumbled, removing his shadow clones from the area.

"Determined as always I see," said a voice.

Naruto and Kakashi turned around and saw Fran walking up to them.

"Fran! Hey! How's it going?" Naruto called out to her excitedly, already forgetting about his disappointment.

"I'm good. But you must be exhausted. Hey, why not take one of Sakura's pills? They help you increase your chakra!" said Fran.

At the very mention of Sakura's pills, Naruto's heart skipped a beat. No way was he ever going to take a single bite of those! They tasted horrible! So much that he wouldn't take them if he was dying from lack of chakra!

"Uugghh, n-no thanks Fran, ehehehe," he said quickly.

Sensing the reason why he declined the offer, Fran smiled knowingly.

"Are you coming back to the village with us? Or are you going to train?" asked Kakashi.

"Um, actually I came to find you two. So I can accompany you back," she replied.

Naruto smiled, he really liked Fran. She was one of the nicest girls around, and he pitied her. Her clan had underestimated her power, believing her to be unworthy and banished her from their grounds. Having nowhere to go, Fran had sought refuge in the Hidden Leaf Village. Lady Tsunade had been rather suspicious of her at first, but after hearing out her story, she had permitted her to reside in their village and even declared her as an official leaf shinobi. Fran had been so proud of her headband that she wore it around her neck at all times. It made her feel like a part of them, made her feel wanted. After all, throughout her entire life she had been pushed away by members of her clan, believing her to be weak and not of their calibre. Naruto in particular felt that he identified with her since she too knew the horrors of loneliness.

Fran on her part loved all her new friends and inwardly felt sure that she would put her life on the line for them should the situation ever arise.

Now the three were travelling back to their village, eager to be back home. Night was closing in fast and the stars were starting to creep out slowly, peeping at the three ninjas.

Finally, they arrived back, and found Sakura and Sai waiting for them.

"Hey guys! We were waiting for you! How'd the training go?" asked Sakura.

"Great! But, I still haven't managed to perfect my Rasengan yet," said Naruto.

"Oh, that's too bad. You must be out of chakra. How about taking one of my pills?" asked Sakura.

"Gah! Uhm, n-no that's OK Sakura," said Naruto as Fran giggled.

"Naruto doesn't like your pills Sakura," Sai blurted out.

"N-no no! I-I love them! Actually, I was thinking that what I need right now is some Ramen!" Naruto said quickly.

"Oh! Um, of course," said Sakura, but she was aware of the fact that Sai had a tendency for speaking the truth.

"Sai, don't just say awkward stuff like that!" Fran whispered in his ear.

"That's OK. Someone needs to save his tastebuds," he replied calmly.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Fran and Sakura were sitting side by side on the leafy ground beside a bridge. It was morning, and the sky was as blue as the water flowing in the river beside them, and unobscured by clouds. Sakura was holding a small bunch of sakura blossoms in her hands, fingering the petals delicately.

"Sakura...that's why you were named so, because of the colour of your hair. It's the same colour as that of sakura blossoms, isn't it?" said Fran.

"Yeah, I love these flowers. Ino has plenty of them in her shop," Sakura replied.

"Yeah, it's the perfect spot for admirers to purchase flowers. I would like to do that someday, I always did, but I never got the chance because I never had a boyfriend," said Fran.

"Oh...well, I always wanted to buy flowers for Sasuke, but...he's not here now..." said Sakura sadly, her green eyes overcome by a wave of bittersweet memories, all concerning Sasuke...

"Naruto will get him back, you'll see. He's training really hard. He's determined to surpass all his enemies," said Fran: "Especially the Akatsuki..."

"Yeah, we've all gotta be careful when it comes to them. I hate them all for endangering Naruto's life, it's not fair on him. He's been through too much already," said Sakura.

"Who Naruto? Huh, yeah I guess," said a male voice.

The two girls turned around to see Shikamaru walking towards them.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Fran.

"Oh nothing much. Infact, I don't have anything to do, it's such a drag..." he began to moan.

"Hey, do you want to train with me?" asked Fran.

"Huh? Train? With you?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah, why not? I needed some practice," said Fran.

"Oh, well, you see it's not that I'm not grateful for the offer, it's just that I don't really think training with a girl will help me get better," Shikamaru replied coolly.

"What?" Fran screeched, jumping to her feet.

"Hey no need to take it so bad. I just thought that training with a girl would be child's play," said Shikamaru.

The effect this had on Fran was immediate. Instantly, her eyes changed to a brilliant blue hue, and she gritted her teeth.

"Hey, wha-?" Shikamaru started, but he was cut off as Fran lunged at him, aiming fierce punches at him.

"Fran! Stop!" Sakura shouted, worried that she would hurt Shikamaru.

"DON'T YOU EVER, EVER, EVER SAY ANOTHER WORD AGAINST GIRLS AGAIN!" Fran shouted, violently hitting out at the shocked Shikamaru, who had a hard time blocking her punches.

"Hey! I was just saying! Don't-, hey stop!" he panicked.

Her speed, her strength, it's unbelievable! He thought amidst his effort to push her off.

"Fran! Stop this, right now!" Sakura shouted frantically, starting to feel frightened. Fran had never acted this way before, and even so, she looked possessed!

"Shadow clone jutsu!" a familiar voice shouted.

Suddenly, three of Naruto's shadow clones dashed forward and pulled Fran away from Shikamaru, with great effort. Shikamaru tumbled down on the floor, breathing sharply. His face looked as though he had just had the misfortune of coming across a violent ghost.

"Fran! Listen to me! Calm down, he was just joking," Sakura said quickly, rushing over to her friend and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Y-yeah dude, t-take it easy, OK?" stammered Shikamaru, looking up at her fearfully.

Slowly, Fran's eyes began changing back to their usual black colour, but not before Kakashi saw it.

The Majigan...he thought.

"Fran, looks like you need some help with that kekkei genkai of yours," he called out to her.

Fran turned shakily around to look at him. She felt terrible. Sure, Shikamaru's lousy comment had triggered fury inside her...but was her Majigan really that easy to break out of control?

"I, I guess so," she replied.

"Perhaps it would be better if I helped you to control it. I've heard about the Majigan, those kinds which are triggered by fury are amongst the hardest to control, as well as being the most dangerous," said Kakashi.

Fran said nothing but bowed her head. She felt rather guilty for causing so much trouble.

"Hey...Fran, uh...I'm sorry, OK?" said Shikamaru as he stood up, still fearing she could burst out at any moment.

"Me too, but be careful how you speak to me from now on. Not just me but also others. Foolish, immature comments like that could hurt anyone," said Fran.

Shikamaru smiled and placed his hands in his pockets. After a pause, he said:

"I know I really won't train with you now. The strength you've got, you could squash me to a pulp."


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

The Akatsuki had joined together in their eery hideout. They had just extracted the two-tails from the female ninja who had harnessed it, and who now lay lifeless on the ground away from them, her blonde locks strewn around her.  
"Good job Hidan, Kakuzu," said Pain.  
"Aahh it was easy. Didn't even break a sweat," said Hidan.  
"Hm," Kakuzu grunted.  
"Now that we have the two-tails in our possession, perhaps we can move on to collect the nine-tails," Pain stated in his deep, business-like voice.  
"I'll go, I was the one who tried to capture him the first time. This time I'll put my failure right," said Itachi, his blood-red Sharingan glowing menacingly in the darkness.  
"No, I'll go. I would've caught him myself if that pesky Kakashi hadn't interfered, hm!" said Deidara, more than willing to have some fun.  
"Quiet. I'll decide who will be going," said Pain.  
The group remained silent until Pain mentally evaluated each member's abilities. Finally, he came up with a decision.  
"Very well. Since you have proved to be quite the strong pair, I'll send you two, Hidan and Kakuzu," Pain declared.  
"Hah! Take that suckers! I'll show you what powerful is all about! I'll be back before you know it!" said Hidan.  
"Ugh," Deidara grunted. Itachi remained silent.  
"Quit your boasting Hidan. Let's go," said Kakuzu.  
"Yeah yeah, fine I'm comin'," said Hidan. He grabbed his scythe, swung it onto his back, grinned tauntingly at Deidara and left.  
"That idiot is so immature, hm," Deidara groaned when they had left.  
"Deidara, don't forget what I said about wanting us to get along," said Pain.  
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Deidara grumbled, still miffed at not having been sent on the mission.  
"You've already captured the one-tails, Deidara," said Konan.  
"Huh?...Yeah, I guess you're right, hm," said Deidara.  
"Very well then. Everyone's dismissed," said Pain.

"Okay, now listen. Your Majigan is very special. We're going to need extra effort to control it," Kakashi explained as Fran listened attentively. They were out in the training field, and dusk had already tinted the sky with an orange hue.  
"Now then. First, you must learn to activate your Majigan freely, and not by mistake. First, you need to focus your chakra into your eyes, and concentrate on releasing it at once," said Kakashi.  
"But sensei, if my Majigan should go out of control, how will we stop it?" asked Fran.  
"I'll take care of that. Talking to you with patience appeared to bring you back to your senses earlier, didn't it?" said Kakashi.  
"Yeah, guess so," said Fran: "OK then, here goes nothing." She placed her fingers together and closed her eyes. She focused hard on gathering her chakra, but when it came to guiding it to her eyes, she felt anger start brewing up inside of her.  
Ugh, better stop, she thought.  
After a short pause, she resumed, guiding her chakra flow steadily. At points in time she could feel anger starting to attack, but she was determined not to let it take over. Suddenly, she felt a surge of power, and when she opened her eyes, they were a brilliant blue.  
"You did it!" said Kakashi, but as Fran was about to agree, she felt a sudden spurt of rage explode within her, and to Kakashi's shock, growled and gritted her teeth in anger.  
"Fran calm down! Look! You did it! You succeeded! Just relax, OK?" said Kakashi, keeping his voice natural.  
Fran felt her normal emotions reaching out to her and slowly felt that she was calming down, but as her rage dissipated so did her chakra, and her Majigan faded away.  
"Crap! I lost it!" she said.  
"Don't worry, we'll try again," said Kakashi.  
And so they continued to train, never giving up, never stopping, until night approached and they had to return to their village.


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

The following morning, Kakashi was leaning against a tree in a garden in the heart of the village. He was reading his favourite book and giggling naughtily at the obscene scenarios. Five minutes later, he had already finished it, and contentedly snapped it shut. How many times had he reread it, 10 times already? He had lost count, after all, he would probably be reading it for another 10 times!

As he pocketed it and began strolling around the lush garden, his mind moved on to more serious matters. He began considering Fran's extreme power, and realised that she had almost as much willpower and determination as Naruto. Infact, he realised, she would be more than a valuable asset to squad 7. True, they already had Sai as a replacement for Sasuke, but then there was already one ninja exceeding the prescribed number of three...so why not extend that number from four to five?

Maybe if I ask lady Tsunade for her opinion, who knows? Maybe we could get Fran on our team! He thought.

"Shizune, fetch my papers please, I need to start working," said Tsunade, throwing back a blonde pigtail which had fallen over her shoulder.

"Yes milady!" said Shizune, and immediately whipped around to fetch the pile of papers which had most recently arrived, only to find Tonton sniffing curiously at them!

"Aaiiiiiiii!" Shizune shrieked, causing Tsunade to swivel around on her chair to see what was going on.

"Tonton! Don't touch those, they're very important!" Shizune panicked, then whipped around at Tsunade and quickly said: "Ehehe! S-sorry about that milady!"

Tsunade sighed, and suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called.

The wooden door opened and Kakashi appeared.

"Kakashi! What's wrong?" asked Tsunade curiously.

"Milady, it's just your opinion I require, if I may," said Kakashi, closing the door behind him and walking up to her desk.

"My opinion? On what?" asked Tsunade.

"It's about Fran. You are aware that she has the power of her clan's Majigan, correct?" said Kakashi.

"Yes, why?" asked Tsunade.

"Well you see, I was assisting her in controlling its power yesterday, and well I came to realise just this morning that she would make a valuable part of squad 7," said Kakashi.

"A part of squad 7, huh? I see," said Tsunade, resting her chin on the back of her hand.

"What do you think? She's a very strong kunoichi, and with my help she could be as powerful as Sasuke himself!" said Kakashi.

"Well, I must agree with you here. The other day I witnessed the little scenario that she and Shikamaru made from my window..." said Tsunade.

"Oh, hehe, you saw that?" said Kakashi tensely.

"Yes. The ruckus they made was rather distracting. However, her strength was more than impressive. And let's not forget that she couldn't even control its power. Given that she is able to master it, she will be very effective in helping you to take down the Akatsuki," said Tsunade.

"Indeed...well, should I allow her in then?" Kakashi asked hopefully.

"Yes. You have my permission, Kakashi," said Tsunade.

"Thank you milady. She will be overjoyed I'm sure," he said.

Tsunade smiled. Yes, Fran would make a significant contribution to squad 7, without a doubt.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Hidan and Kakuzu made their way across the forest, only they were not following the path to the Leaf village...

"For the sake of Jashin, do we really have to go to get your stupid bounty?" Hidan complained, greatly annoyed by Kakuzu's uncontrollable fetish for money.

"Yes, we're heading that way first. Then we'll move on to collect the nine-tails," said Kakuzu.

"Ugh! You do realise that this is totally gonna waste our time right? I mean, why couldn't we have gone for the nine-tails first and then you could go all by yourself to get your bounty!" said Hidan.

"This way is better. The nine-tails can wait...this can't," said Kakuzu.

"Lier! I know why you wanted us to go there first, because you know you can't do it without my help! C'mon admit it!" said Hidan.

"What makes you think I need your help?" asked Kakuzu.

"Oh I dunno, maybe because I'm strong, powerful, dangerous, intimidating, immortal, need any more reasons?" said Hidan.

Kakuzu did not reply but merely rolled his eyes and walked on.

"Just shut up...or I will kill you," he said a moment later.

"Huh? Yeah right! As if! You wish sucker," said Hidan.

Kakuzu grunted in annoyance and decided to ignore his feisty partner. Sometimes, he really would give anything just to be able to kill him.

Kakashi was busy searching for Fran to give her the good news, and after a good ten minutes, heard her and Sai's voices. He followed their sound and was led down a flight of steps, and caught sight of them sitting near eachother beside the flowing river. They both had their drawing books in hand and were scratching away with their pencils, drawing their own desired image. He decided to listen to their chat for a moment, just out of curiosity. He knew that he was eavesdropping, but...oh well!

"You can draw very well," he heard Sai saying.

"Thanks! You too, I love your art," said Fran: "My family is mostly made up of artists. I love to draw, it makes me feel happy, and it helps me to forget everything else."

"I see. I would feel the same way if I could have any distressing thoughts, I guess," said Sai.

"Yeah...But, you know Sai, not having any distressing thoughts could be the best thing that ever happened to you!" said Fran.

"Hm, I suppose you're right. Still, sometimes I just wish I could be normal...like you guys," he confessed.

"Oh. Well, I wonder...is there any such thing as normal? We're all different aren't we? And besides, you're still our friend, Sai," said Fran.

"Why thank you! That makes me feel much better," said Sai.

"Y'know, I really feel like I have a special bond with you three, I mean you, Sakura and Naruto. I love all the other teams but you three have become like my new family. And Kakashi sensei is really nice. I would be proud to be a part of your team," said Fran.

Feeling that he had heard enough, Kakashi stepped out from behind the tree which had been concealing him and said:

"Then I will also be proud to appoint you as the fifth member of squad 7."

Sai and Fran looked around at Kakashi, and Fran stared at him, unable to believe her ears. Had he really just declared her an official member of squad 7?

She stood up, holding her drawing book with both hands.

"You, you really mean it?" she asked.

"Yep! Welcome aboard!" said Kakashi.

"Yeah! Alright! You hear that Sai? I'm one of you guys now! Wohoo!" she cheered happily, jumping around the place and almost toppling Sai's pencils into the water.

Sai smiled, and recalling what he had read in a book about being happy for your friends, stood up and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Well done! I'm very glad to have you on our team!" he said.

"That's settled then! From now on, squad 7 will be even stronger than before," said Kakashi.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

"So, how far is this Fire Temple anyway?" asked Hidan.

"Still a couple of miles away," said Kakuzu.

"Aaaawww maaaan! Come on, I'm sick of walking!" Hidan complained.

"Shut up, we're still going whether you like it or not," said Kakuzu.

"Ugh, you're such a pain, damn it," said Hidan, glaring at Kakuzu's back.

Kakuzu said nothing but walked on, and this seemed to annoy Hidan more.

"Oh sure, just ignore the feisty young man you're dragging with you against his will. Seriously, you keep forcing me to accompany you in this crap, it seriously sucks man," said Hidan.

Kakuzu suddenly stopped walking and Hidan paused in his tracks to see what was coming.

"Money...is important. Better than your useless rituals," said Kakuzu.

"Useless? USELESS? Shut your trap you frikkin' atheist! What's useless is the fact that I barely ever see you using any of the money you collect!" shouted Hidan, utterly insulted by Kakuzu's comment.

"Hm, that's my business. I don't expect you to understand something as complicated or precious as money," said Kakuzu, and continued walking.

"Money? Precious? Hah! That's stupid. What's really precious is Lord Jashin, but I don't expect you to understand in something like that!" said Hidan.

And on they went, arguing non-stop as they travelled towards the doomed Fire Temple.

"What? Fran's a member of squad 7?" Naruto exclaimed, completely surprised by the news.

"Yeah! Kakashi sensei just appointed her! Isn't that great?" said Sakura.

"Great? It's AWESOME! Oh yeah! I can't believe it!" Naruto shouted happily.

"They're training right now in the training field. Sai's there too. Wanna go visit them?" said Sakura.

"Yeah! Totally! Come on, let's go!" said Naruto.

But no sooner had he lifted his foot to start running than he heard a small, shy voice:

"N-Naruto?"

"Eh?" Naruto whipped around to see had spoken, and saw Hinata standing there, her face as red as usual, her eyes looking down.

"Oh, hello Hinata," said Sakura.

"What's up?" asked Naruto.

"Oh! Um...I uh, j-just w-wanted to come with you," said Hinata, fingering a dark blue lock of hair, twisting it madly with her finger.

"Oh! Well why didn't you say so? Come on with us! Heh!" said Naruto cheerfully and the three began running towards the training field, eager to see what their comrades were up to.


	7. Chapter 7

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Sakura, Naruto and Hinata ran through the forest, the leaves crunching beneath their shoes. It was already afternoon, and they were eager to see them train. Finally, they arrived, and the first thing they saw was Fran and Sai training together. They were both battling eachother, and Kakashi was watching them, studying their every move to analyse how strong they were.

Fran took out a pair of kunai knives and ran towards Sai, who readied himself. Then she jumped high in the air, turned around and shot the kunai knives at him.

Carefully, he dodged both and then whipped out four shurikens. Aiming carefully, he threw them at Fran, but her speed was incredible. She landed on the ground in a flash and the shurikens struck a tree.

Then they ran towards eachother and engaged in hand-to-hand combat, punching and blocking skilfully. Naruto was left gaping at them, unable to tear his eyes of them.

"Wow! Look at them go!" he exclaimed.

"They're both amazing," said Hinata.

"I'm impressed, I mean, I don't think I've ever seen Sai battling using hand-to-hand combat before!" said Sakura.

Fran jumped away and began making fast hand signs, at the end of which her eyes changed to a brilliant blue hue.

She had activated the Majigan!

Everyone except Kakashi gasped, and saw Fran speeding forward and with one punch threw Sai across the field and into a tree, regardless of the fact he had blocked it!

"Awesome! She's controlled her Majigan!" said Naruto.

"Sai? You OK?" Fran called out.

"Y-yeah, I think so," he answered, getting up on his feet.

"OK!" she said and dashed towards him once more.

"Wait! Wait! I-I didn't mean-" Sai started to say but was cut off as he had to jump upwards and out of the way as Fran struck the tree he had hit, reducing it to pieces.

"Unbelievable! Her strength is as good as mine!" said Sakura.

"With my help, Fran has complete control over her Majigan. At least she can now utilise its power," said Kakashi.

"Yeah man! The Akatsuki are so in for it!" shouted Naruto.

"Oh them? We'll get them now!" said Fran.

"Huh? How did you hear that from over there? You've got super hearing now too?" said Naruto.

"No silly! You didn't exactly keep your voice low!" Fran laughed.

"Phew! That's enough for me!" said Sai, running over to Naruto and the others.

"Hey wait Sai! I'm not done yet!" Fran joked.

"Whaddya say Hinata? Wanna go up against me next?" said Naruto.

"Oh! U-um...I-I d-don't wanna h-hurt you," Hinata said quietly, going redder by the second.

"Hurt me? It's just practice!" said Naruto.

"Oh...OK then," she agreed shyly.

As the group trained together, the two immortal Akatsuki were fast getting closer to their destination...


	8. Chapter 8

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

It was a day later that the Fire Temple had been crushed, several of the monks residing there brutally killed, and the body of the Head Monk Chiriku stolen by Kakuzu and the uninterested Hidan. They were now making their way towards the exchange point, with Kakuzu carrying the lifeless body of Chiriku on his back.

"At least that's over, huh. So, how far is the exchange point?" asked Hidan.

"Don't start complaining, or I will kill you," said Kakuzu.

"C'mon! Don't be so touchy! I was just asking how much further we have to walk!" said Hidan.

"Just keep moving," was all Kakuzu said, much to Hidan's annoyance.

"Fine. Be like that loser. Geez, what a pain in the neck," Hidan grumbled beneath his breath.

"I heard that," said Kakuzu.

"Whatever," said Hidan.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune burst inside Tsunade's office, Tonton running after her.

"What is it, Shizune?" asked Tsunade immediately.

"It's the Fire Temple! It's been destroyed! And Chiriku, the Head Monk, was killed and his body stolen!" said Shizune.

Tsunade gasped in shock: "Who's responsible for this?"

"From what the surviving monks reported, the culprits were two men wearing the Akatsuki cloaks!" said Shizune.

"The Akatsuki...so they've come..." said Tsunade.

"What should we do milady?" asked Shizune.

"Get team Kakashi here now. I'm going to send them," said Tsunade.

"Yes milady!" said Shizune, and with that she dashed out of the office.

Half an hour later, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Fran were gathered around the Hokage's desk, awaiting her orders.

"Alright. So, the Akatsuki have attacked the Fire Temple. They've destroyed it and stolen the Head Monk's body. You five are to go after them, follow their tracks. Do NOT let them escape! Your priority will be to capture them, but if it proves difficult, then kill them at once. Is that understood?" said Tsunade.

"Yes milady!" said Kakashi.

"Very well then, good luck. You'll need it," said Tsunade.


	9. Chapter 9

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Team Kakashi sped forward, jumping off tree branches towards the Fire Temple. They all knew that what they were in for was going to be far from easy. Infact, all of them were rather worried. But their sense of determination kept them going, ignoring all fear, ready to face the battle.

Fran was a bit more inexperienced than the others since she had never really been in serious fights as this before. But she did her best to make herself believe that it was all going to be fine, and moved on.

At one point however, Kakashi stopped and the others stopped to hear him out.

"Okay, listen up. Since they could have gone elsewhere, I think it's best if we split up now. I'll go to the Fire Temple and check out the situation. You four take separate routes. If you find them, do NOT attack them, or make your presence felt! Your mission is to locate them only! Fighting them alone will be suicide. If any of you find them, come back here and wait for everyone to gather. We'll meet up in four hours. Is that clear?" said Kakashi.

"Yes sir!" they said in unison.

"Good. I'll see you then," said Kakashi, and after bending down to mark the branch with his kunai, they took flight, each in different directions.

An hour later, Fran was travelling alone in the path she had chosen. She wondered rather fearfully whether this was the correct one. What if she came into direct contact with them and got killed? She didn't really like the thought. But a mission was a mission, and she would have to carry out her orders just like the others. After all, that was what being a ninja was all about!

Five minutes later, her heart skipped a beat as she heard a sound. She cams to a stop and looked around. At first, she saw no one, but suddenly, a group of kunai knives were thrown at her from amidst the trees and she quickly jumped out of the way. A moment later, the attacker himself emerged. He was a dark ninja covered in black, and looked very much like a rogue ninja.

Hm, a quick fight to warm up, she thought, and taking out a kunai, prepared herself for battle.

Hidan and Kakuzu had paused for a break, and tired of being with Kakuzu, Hidan left for some alone time. Since the sun was scorching hot, he couldn't stand his long Akatsuki cloak, so he took it off and flung it on a boulder. Now he was bare-chested, wearing only his trousers and shoes. He flexed his muscles tiredly, following Kakuzu to his stupid exchange point was really starting to wear him out.

He was just about to sit down on the ground when he heard a sound coming from deeper within the forest. At first he was going to ignore it, but when it persisted, he decided to go check it out. After all, he had nothing to do.

As he made his way inside the forest, the sound grew louder, and he could now decipher it. There was no mistaking it, it was the sound of a fight.

Curious, he followed it, wondering who it could be, and finally, he arrived to see a young kunoichi and a make ninja fighting gruellingly. He could see that the man had the intention to kill the girl, who was far from holding back. Infact, he was surprised at how well she was putting up a fight.

Huh, look at her go, he thought with amusement.

After a while however, the man struck the girl across her arm and she crashed down on the ground, blood seeping from her wounded arm. Taking the opportunity, the male ninja descended and was clearly going to kill her. Hidan wondered why, but for some reason, felt himself rushing forward to intervene. He had never stepped in to save someone's life before, on the contrary, he was usually the one taking the life! But here he was now, getting ready to play the hero.

If Kakuzu could see me now, he thought, placing a hand on his deadly scythe.

Fran grabbed her injured arm and gritted her teeth. Damn it, he's coming! she thought.

The ninja was diving towards her, his blade ready to sink into her flesh, and she knew it would be hard avoiding this one.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a young man rushed towards her, and his long scythe crashed against the blade of the surprised ninja.

Fran gasped as the newcomer suddenly shifted his scythe and plunged it without a second thought into the ninja's heart.


	10. Chapter 10

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Blood dripped softly from the scythe which was now partly wedged inside the ninja's dying heart. Harshly, the young man pulled his scythe out of him, and he fell with a dull thud onto the ground, staining the leaves beneath him red.

Fran remained where she was, unmoving, and stared rather fearfully at this man. Surely he was not going to hurt her too? Surely he was only rescuing her?

Her final thought proved right as the man swung his scythe onto his bare back and bent down infront of her, and smiled.

"Hey, you okay there?" he asked her.

"Y-yeah...I think so," said Fran, still baffled at all this. The dull pain in her arm had long been forgotten. She was now too preoccupied with the sight of this man. Boy, was he gorgeous! He had slicked back grey hair and the most intensive and charming purple eyes she had ever witnessed! And to dazzle her further, he was bare-chested...wow.

He he took her hand and gently pulled her to her feet. For a moment, he too gazed at her with apparent admiration, then said:

"We'd better get out of here. Come on."

And with that, the two of them jumped back onto the branches and began making their way to were Fran had been going before the attack.

Hidan still felt rather weird after saving someone. Since when had he ever done that? But still, he had to admit that it made him feel pretty good, a lot more than he had anticipated! And what was even weirder was the fact that he felt strangely attracted to this girl. She was really good-looking! And from the way she had looked at him, he guessed that she probably felt the same way about him.

"So, what's your name girl?" he asked.

"I'm Fran," she answered: "And you?"

"You can call me Hidan," he said: "You don't look like you're much younger than me."

"Well, I'm 17, how old are you?" asked Fran.

"22, heh, I was right then," he said: "So, does that wound hurt?"

"Oh, a bit, but don't worry about it, it's nothing," said Fran.

As they continued on their way, Hidan realised that they were getting closer to Kakuzu, and he didn't want him to catch him hanging out with a girl.

"Wanna stop here for a bit?" he asked her.

"Yeah, okay," said Fran.

The two of them stopped beside a tree and they sat next to eachother.

"So, where were you going?" asked Hidan.

"My sensei asked me and my team to look for two members of the Akatsuki who have just attacked the Fire Temple. I was looking for them, we all are," said Fran.

At the mention of this, Hidan's heart skipped a beat. So she had been searching for them! And here she was, chatting with him without any idea of who he was! Good thing he had taken off his Akatsuki cloak before coming here...

"I see," he said.

"You haven't seen them have you?" asked Fran.

"Uh, n-no, I haven't," said Hidan. All of a sudden, he felt guilty. Since when did he feel guilty? Ever since he had met up with Fran his personality seemed to have been turned upside down, and pretty fast too!

"They're really dangerous people. Though I don't think you'd be in much danger with that scythe you've got there," said Fran.

"Oh this?" said Hidan touching the handle of his scythe: "Yeah it's come in pretty handy at times."

"Cool, all I've got are kunai knives and shurikens. Guess I'd never lose a battle with that thing," said Fran.

"Well it's pretty good for attacking. It's a long-range weapon too," said Hidan.

"Awesome, man you're one cool dude," said Fran, blushing slightly.

"Aaww thanks, hey you too you're really pretty, I-I mean cool, yeah," said Hidan, and the pair of them burst out laughing.

He thinks I'm pretty...thought Fran.

Suddenly she caught sight of her watch and noticed that it was time to head back and meet up with the rest of her team.

"Oh my, I have to go back and meet up with the rest of my team. I really appreciate your saving my life back there," said Fran.

"Heh, it was nothing, I really enjoyed meeting you," said Hidan.

"Perhaps we'll meet again some day, until then, take care," said Fran.

"Yeah, you too," said Hidan.

Ten minutes later, Hidan had put on his cloak again and was making his way towards Kakuzu. As soon as saw him, Kakuzu said: "What took you so long?"

"Nothing, come on let's go," said Hidan, and began walking forward.

Kakuzu felt suspicious, Hidan wasn't looking so normal, but still, he didn't care much, after all, he was merely there to make his job easier.

Fran approached the meeting place where Naruto, Sakura, Sai and Kakashi were waiting.

"Hey, did you find anything?" asked Kakashi.

"Um, no," said Fran.

"Then let's head back, come on," said Kakashi: "The others were unsuccessful too."


	11. Chapter 11

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

It was late in the evening, and Fran was sitting on her bed, clutching her knees to her chin. The moon shone its white light on her, making her look like a vulnerable angel. She couldn't get the thought of Hidan out of her head. How she hoped she would see him again, she was already missing him! She had met a number of boys in her life, but never one as interesting as him.

And what about the Akatsuki? They were out there, causing havoc, and a danger to them all. How she hoped he would be safe from them, but still, for now she had better worry about herself.

Kakuzu was growing excited. The exchange point was not far now, and soon he would be in possession of so much beautiful money.

And yet, he realised that Hidan hadn't said a single word. Something was definitely wrong.

"What's the matter, Hidan?" he asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Hidan replied in a low voice.

"It's not like you to stay quiet for so long," said Kakuzu.

Hidan shrugged and walked on. Try as he might, he just couldn't shake the thought of that girl from of his head. He had really liked her, and yet she had been searching for them...probably to kill them...

Kakuzu suddenly stopped and turned to face Hidan.

"You're not going a step further until you tell me what's wrong," he demanded.

"It's none of your business. Just butt out," said Hidan, frustrated at Kakuzu's questions.

"I demand to know, now," said Kakuzu.

"And I demand that you butt out and move on, K?" said Hidan.

"What happened in there?" Kakuzu persisted.

"Ugh! For Jashin's sake! Forget me and move on!" said Hidan, starting to get angry: "You want me to curse you or something?"

"Hm," said Kakuzu, and unwillingly turned and walked on.

"For now, I'll leave you alone. But don't think that I won't find out," said Kakuzu.

"Ugh! You're such a damn pain in the neck, you know that? You're a real curse to be around with," said Hidan.

Kakuzu didn't answer. He hated Hidan, and the reason he was asking him so many questions was not because he cared about him, far from it. He was suspicious of his partner, he had done something and he was hiding it, and Kakuzu hated that, even more than he hated his constant whining.

That night, Fran had not been able to sleep, so she decided to just give up trying and go outside for a bit. She was walking towards the bridge when she saw Sakura standing there, gazing into the moonlit water. Fran walked over to her, and hearing the approaching footsteps, Sakura looked up.

"Oh, Fran, couldn't sleep either?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, I guess," said Fran.

"You looked pretty confused earlier too. Is something wrong?" asked Sakura.

"Uh, well," Fran wasn't sure if she should tell her about her encounter with Hidan. She didn't know why, but some unexplainable feeling was warning her to keep quiet about it.

"N-no, nothing's wrong," said Fran.

"Good to hear...I was...thinking about Sasuke..." Sakura admitted, her green eyes clouded with sadness.

"I see, I'm sorry. But we'll get him back, don't worry. Naruto's determination and your undying love for him won't just lie back and wish he was here. I know you'll both do your best to retrieve him, and me, Sai and Kakashi sensei are on it too," said Fran.

"Thanks Fran, that means a lot to me," said Sakura.

And the two kunoichi stood by eachother and gazed at the flowing water, each deep into their own thoughts...


	12. Chapter 12

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Deep within the black depths of the night, far away from the peaceful village of Konoha, the secluded hideout of Orochimaru was silent in its hidden evil. Orochimaru himself was watching Sasuke train, silently standing in the shadows as he surveyed the avenger of the destroyed Uchiha clan. Sasuke placed the palm of his hand on the ground on which their shadows danced in the dim light, and a burst of lightning lit up in his hand. As he lifted his head, Orochimaru could see that the blood red Sharingan was alive in his eyes, which shone with bloodlust and an evident thirst for vengeance. Suddenly, he yelled: "Chidori!" and slammed his lightning fuelled hand inside a nearby column, which crumbled instantly at its touch.

Orochimaru grinned satisfactorily. His golden snake eyes shone with longing. He yearned almost desperately for Sasuke to be his new vessel, but the time had not come yet. How frustrating it was that he had to wait, when he could barely stand the sight of the powerful boy standing away from him, honing his powers! But he had to withstand it, he had to keep training Sasuke, or else he might not experience the maximum power that he craved so much.

"You're doing well, Sasuke," he said huskily.

Sasuke turned casually to look at him and then lowered his head, and after a short pause, said: "I must destroy Itachi...I have to keep getting stronger!"

"Oh and you will, Sasuke, don't worry my boy...you will..." said Orochimaru.

"Hm," Sasuke grunted, and began making his way towards his quarters. He knew that Orochimaru was only helping him to gain something from it, knew that it was merely for his own personal benefit and not for Sasuke's. But he couldn't care less, as long as it meant that he could end his accursed brother's life, then he would do whatever it takes!

Kabuto was also watching the pair of them, his master and the young Uchiha survivor. He could sense his master's longing for Sasuke's body, but he could also sense that it would be far from simple to obtain...After all, Sasuke was clearly an increasingly dangerous warrior, who could destroy them all should he want to.

But something else was plaguing Kabuto's mind. Say Orochimaru took over Sasuke's body, wouldn't he still require another vessel over time? After all, if he wished to be immortal, it was certainly inevitable. But who else would make a fitting vessel? Finding an appropriate one was never an easy task. There had to be a way for Orochimaru to gain permanent immortality...something that would make him resistant to death, but what could he do about it? How would he put his suggestion forward?


	13. Chapter 13

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

"How disappointing. Where could those creeps be hiding?" Tsunade grumbled in frustration, leaning back in her chair. Kakashi and his team stood before her, having just reported back that they had failed to find the Akatsuki.

"I'm very sorry milady. We all tried our best, but we couldn't find even a trace of them," said Kakashi.

"Ugh, and we don't even know anything about them! We must keep searching for them," said Tsunade.

"Might I suggest that we send more search parties, milady?" asked Shizune, who was hugging Tonton to her chest.

"Yes, go and inform them now," said Tsunade.

"Yes milady!" said Shizune, rushing out of the room.

"I can't stand the thought of scum like them running around, killing off people like they were nothing," said Tsunade angrily.

"Man I can't stand it either, 'specially when they're after me too," said Naruto.

"Don't worry Lady Tsunade. We'll find them and finish them off. You can count on it," said Sakura.

"I certainly hope so. Don't forget that the more time passes, the less chance we have of finding them. After all, they're moving away as we speak," said Tsunade.

"But why did they attack the Fire Temple? Why didn't they attack the Leaf Village? It's kinda weird if you ask me," said Naruto.

"Quiet Naruto, don't summon them here! We're already in constant fear of their attacking us!" said Sakura.

"But he has a point, if I may say so," said Fran.

"These people don't think in the way we do, or as we expect them to either. My hunch is that the more people they can wipe out the better. Don't forget that the monks of the Fire Temple, in particular their Head Monk Chiriku, are one of the most skilled warriors of the Fire country," said Tsunade.

"Hm, guess you're right there," said Fran.

"Well, no use wishing we could do what we currently can't. You're all dismissed for now. My advice is to keep training and doing your best so that you'll be prepared for when the worst happens," said Tsunade.

"What? You didn't find them?" Kiba shouted.

"Yeah, so? We'll try again," said Naruto.

"Ugh! Why the heck didn't they just send me, Shino and Hinata? We've got the power of the senses on our squad!" said Kiba.

"My guess is that you're jealous," said Sai.

"W-what? Jealous? Come on man, don't make me laugh!" said Kiba.

"Guys pipe down, what good is this doing us?" said Fran.

"She's right Kiba, please calm down," Hinata pleaded.

"Yeah! Hinata's totally right pal!" said Naruto.

"Oh!" said Hinata, blushing furiously as Naruto said this.

"Ignore him. He's always like this. But I must admit, being left out of a mission is tough to deal with," said Shino.

"Ah come on! Don't tell me you're still burnt about being left out of the Sasuke retrieval mission!" said Kiba.

"Yeah bud, get a life," said Naruto.

"Hah! That's a good one!" said Kiba.

"I read in a book that people hurt when they are left out of something," said Sai: "Perhaps this is what Shino feels."

"You and your books Sai," scoffed Naruto, rubbing the back of his blonde head.

"He has a good point," Shino persisted, and to his great annoyance, they all burst out laughing.


	14. Chapter 14

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

After a day of rigorous training, everyone was tired out. The sun had started setting, tainting the sky with a red hue. Team Kakashi stood in the training field, each and everyone of them drained of chakra.

"Let's call it a day guys. We'd better head back, having no chakra won't help us in a battle," said Kakashi.

"Yeah or maybe you just wanna go back to read your precious book that Pervy-Sage wrote," said Naruto.

"Hey it's not stupid!" Kakashi protested, while the others laughed.

"Opinions must be valued, Naruto," said Sai.

"Oh wait, let me guess, you read that in a book, right?" said Naruto.

"Hey lay off the guy," said Sakura.

A while later, the group was heading back to their village, and as soon as they arrived, they each went to their own homes for some well-earned rest.

Everyone except Fran.

She couldn't take not seeing Hidan any longer. She knew this would be irresponsible, especially when she was out of chakra, but she was planning to head out in search for him. She needed to see him again, she had to.

Allowing ten minutes time for everyone to be gone, she turned towards the forest and began making her way eagerly towards the place she had gone before.

It was very dark, and not even the moon could illuminate her path. But on she went, determined to find the man who had left such an impact on her. She had to admit it, she had found him completely irresistible.

Hidan had broken away from the rest of the Akatsuki. They really got on his nerves, and Kakuzu's continuous suspicions were far from leaving him alone. So, deciding to ditch them for a while, he travelled towards the place where he had met Fran. That girl had left an impact on him, which was really surprising. No one had ever left an impact on him, no one had ever even interested him, and he had certainly never given it a thought. But now, here he was, infatuated by an enemy ninja who, had she known who he really was, would have engaged in battle with him, and not chatted with him like a pair of young lovers.

But nevertheless, he had to try and relax now. Kakuzu had delivered the body to the exchange point, earned the money and everyone was happy. Soon they would be attacking the Leaf village to find and capture the nine-tails. Everything was going well, no need to worry.

And yet, was he so interested in this jinchuriki business? After all, he was merely doing it for opportunities of slaughter. True that the power they were gaining will be to their benefit in the end but still, he wasn't too interested.

As he landed on the ground, he sat down and took off his Jashin amulet. Touching its cool silver to his lips, he closed his eyes and began praying. However, after some time had gone by, he heard the distant sounds of somebody approaching. Whoever it was was coming from behind him.


	15. Chapter 15

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Fran had been travelling for a while now, and she was starting to feel rather cold. The night air had grown chilly, and it felt cutting on her skin. Suddenly, she saw a distant figure, sitting solitarily on the ground. She was shocked to see that the person was wearing the dreaded Akatsuki cloak!  
The man turned around to see who was coming, and Fran got the worst shock of her life.  
It was Hidan!  
Hidan looked equally shocked to see her, obviously because she now knew who he really was. He stood up and Fran took a step back.  
"H-Hidan? N-no...no it c-can't be..." she said.  
"Fran, wait. Listen to me," he begged her, moving towards her.  
"N-no, please tell me this is some kind of joke," she said, unconvinced that it was any such thing.  
"Listen Fran. I am a member of the Akatsuki. I'm sorry, there's no point hiding it now. But don't fear me, I won't hurt you, I promise," he said.  
"But, but then, you must be the one who attacked the Fire Temple!" said Fran, the harsh realisation flooding through her.  
Hidan bowed his head and said nothing. He suddenly felt guilty, and it stabbed him worse than any pain he had ever felt. He was hurting her feelings, and he hated that!  
"I'm sorry. Please, forgive me," he begged quietly.  
Fran had always been soft, too soft to be a ninja, so her family had always said. And they were right, she would never be able to kill someone by herself, or even hold something against someone begging forgiveness. Whether it was a mere trick or the truth, she didn't know. But she did know that Hidan had saved her life and she wouldn't be standing here if it hadn't been for him. How could she not forgive him?  
She walked towards him and gently took his hand. He smiled at her, and when she smiled sincerely back he knew she didn't hate him.  
They sat next to eachother on the ground and Fran had to ask him about the matter.  
"How come you're with Akatsuki?"  
Hidan shrugged and looked down. Saying that it was for the reason of slaughtering was not going to go down nicely.  
Sensing that he didn't want to state his reasons, Fran said: "You know that we're on orders to capture or kill you, right?"  
"Huh, yeah. I can guess," he said: "You gonna take me away?"  
Fran remained quiet, unable to bear the guilt when she whispered: "As if."  
Hidan smiled warmly at her and leaned in closer.  
"I wouldn't either," he whispered back.  
"I was looking to find you. I missed you," Fran confessed.  
"I missed you too, a lot," he said, and slowly, as they leaned towards eachother, their lips gently touched, and soon they were kissing eachother lovingly. Fran felt so happy. This new feeling was giving life to her heart. All her life she had wanted someone to love, and now here was someone, who was ironically supposed to be her enemy. But funnily enough, she didn't care, at all. All that mattered now was that she could finally experience the beauty of love.  
When they finally broke apart, they gazed into each other's eyes, and Fran touched his cheek delicately with the back of her fingers, then they were kissing again, and the night was all theirs.  
A while after, they were sitting close to eachother, she with her head resting on his shoulder, he with his arm around her.  
"I love you, I love you already and we've only just met. It's funny, I've never loved before," said Hidan.  
"It doesn't take much for me to love someone. You were too beautiful for me to ignore. I don't care that you're supposed to be the enemy, and that I'm on strict orders to kill you, I'm not gonna tell anyone about you. I want to protect you," said Fran.  
"You're a sweet girl Fran. I wonder if I deserve you," said Hidan.  
"Of course you do, if you truly love me then you do. I know how dangerous the Akatsuki are. You had the chance to kill me yet you saved my life instead. I'll never forger that, and I want to repay you for it," said Fran.  
"Being with me is already good enough. That's all that matters to me," said Hidan.  
"Hm, if you say so. Still, I appreciate it a lot, so I'll pay you back some day," she said, snuggling close to him.  
"If you insist," said Hidan, touching her chin with his finger.  
Fran's answer was to kiss him soundly on the lips.


	16. Chapter 16

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

It was the following morning that the subject of the Akatsuki was brought up amongst team Kakashi, and Fran couldn't bear the tremendous guilt which welled up inside her. She had met up with a member of the dreaded organisation, had fallen in love with him and stayed by his side, when they were all on strict orders to wipe out the group that was causing so much chaos.

"Listen guys, I have to advise all of you to stay on your toes and watch out of these people. If they so much as catch sight of you, you're dead," said Kakashi.

Before she could control herself, Fran snarled. She had been in the presence of one of the deadliest members and he hadn't hurt her! On the contrary, he had actually saved her! Perhaps, they weren't all that bad...

"What's wrong Fran?" asked Naruto.

"N-nothing. But, I mean, are you guys sure that they're all that bad?" she asked quietly.

Understandably, each one of them gasped loudly, and gaped at her as though she had just suggested that they join up with the Akatsuki themselves.

"Of course they're all bad! They're evil, ruthless, deadly! How can you say that?" said Sakura.

"Sakura's right! Totally right! What makes you think they'll spare you if they find you? Tell me that!" said Naruto.

Not knowing what to say without getting caught, she merely shrugged and looked down.

"I guess...I've always believed that a certain amount of good, no matter how small, exists in everyone, regardless of how evil they appear to be," Fran admitted.

"My guess is that you're too soft for your own good," said Naruto.

"Listen Fran. I suppose that you've heard of the darkest member of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, correct?" said Kakashi.

"Of course I have," said Fran.

"Do you know that he was a member of Akatsuki once?" said Kakashi.

"Yeah, I heard. Why?" said Fran, though inwardly guessing where this might lead.

"Do you consider Orochimaru to be good in some impossible way?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't think so, no," said Fran: "But Orochimaru is one man, the members of Akatsuki are others. Some of them may not be that bad! You don't know them!" Fran protested.

"And you do?" said Kakashi.

"No! Of course not!" Fran said quickly, desperate not to arouse suspicions.

"The two who destroyed the Fire Temple, for example, can hardly be considered good, can they?" asked Kakashi.

Fran did not reply here. Hidan had told her that he had been involved in the Fire Temple's destruction. But what did they know? How can they persist without ever having met up with a single person of the Akatsuki? Only she could speak about the matter, and she felt so infuriated that she could not prove her point!

Suddenly, before their eyes, Fran's eyes began changing to blue, which meant that she was getting angry.

"Hey Fran, calm down! There's no need to get angry!" Kakashi said quickly.

"Yeah! We were just saying!" said Naruto.

Fran closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to try and calm herself. Slowly, she felt her Majigan retreating and came back to her senses. But she knew she couldn't argue any further, knew that the case was lost. They were right in thinking so, of course they were. But she wasn't wrong in her opinion either.

"Sorry," she said, and began to walk away. She still felt rather guilty, but then, the member of Akatsuki that she knew was not the evil one who posed a threat. Of that, she was sure of.


	17. Chapter 17

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Orochimaru was sitting in his hard backed chair, watching Kabuto conducting experiments. He had just finished training Sasuke, and was more than satisfied with the show of power he presented. But still, something was bothering him. After he took over Sasuke's body, who would be his new vessel? Did there remain anyone who was good enough? It hardly seemed so. What he really craved was pure immortality, the likes of which would remain undiminished. Something that would fail to weaken as time passed. Time, huh, how he hated it! How he wished it had never even existed! It made the person grow old and fragile and delivered him to his death. And that would be the end of it, all power lost as though it never existed. How infuriating! But what could he do to truly overcome it? How could he emerge victorious?

Kabuto seemed to be mirroring his thoughts. Aside from his concentration, he was contemplating the same thing.

And then, suddenly, a perfect idea occurred to him. He knew he would certainly not refrain from putting forward this idea...

"Lord Orochimaru?" he said.

"Yes Kabuto?" asked Orochimaru, staring at him with interest.

"I was just thinking...about your immortality," said Kabuto.

"What about it?" Orochimaru asked.

"Well, don't you wish it was more permanent? That you could be invincible? That you were simply unable to die?" asked Kabuto, slowly approaching the matter.

"What are you getting at, Kabuto?" asked Orochimaru.

"Well, if I remember correctly, you had once said that there was a member in the Akatsuki that possessed a similar trait, am I correct?" asked Kabuto.

Slowly, Orochimaru began to realise what Kabuto might be suggesting.

"Yes...there was one who was truly immortal...Hidan..." said Orochimaru.

"Why don't you consider asking your old friend to give it to you?" asked Kabuto.

"Asking? Oh don't be silly Kabuto. That was never my style. Yes, Hidan was one of the most invincible of them. He wouldn't die if you tore him to pieces, literally," said Orochimaru.

"Then it's surely what you're looking for. Why not give it a try? You have nothing to lose," said Kabuto.

Orochimaru smiled, sometimes he wondered what he would do without Kabuto. Such a good pawn he was, coming up with strategies for him.

And as for his dear old friend...well, he had something to hand over...


	18. Chapter 18

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Fran was starting to meet up with Hidan every night, secretly sneaking out of the village and racing through the trees to be united with her lover. Yes, she was aware of the fact that what they had between them was most certainly a forbidden love, but she was determined to guard it with her life if needs be! Love was precious to her, as precious as her new found friends and home, as much as her family! Love of this kind had been denied to her, on her part since many a time she had been asked out by boys, begged even. But Fran was a very choosy person, and no boy had ever piqued her interest. And now she had stumbled across the perfect man. How happy she was that she could finally be with someone whom she truly loved and who loved her back in return! It was beautiful.

Rushing through the forest, she finally caught sight of him, and with a burst of excitement she made her way towards him. Hearing her coming, Hidan stood up and turned to await her, and soon she was in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"I'm back!" she said, before they kissed.

A while later, when they were seated next to eachother, Fran caught sight of the silver amulet around his neck. Wondering what exactly it represented, she asked: "What is that necklace for Hidan?"

"Oh this?" said Hidan, grasping it: "It's the symbol of Jashinism, the religion I'm into. It's very important for me."

"I see," said Fran.

"My partner Kakuzu is always insulting my religion, saying that the rituals I make are a waste of time. But then all he cares about is money. Stupid guy, he really gets on my nerves," said Hidan, annoyed by the mere thought of Kakuzu and his uncontrollable crave for money.

"He sounds materialistic, this Kakuzu," said Fran.

"Huh, yeah, he is. He's really annoying too, really gets on my nerves. I mean, we really don't match up, y'know?" said Hidan.

Fran smiled, realising he was venting and said: "You should just ignore him. I don't think you leave him with nothing though, eh?"

"Huh, yeah, I complain a lot, but he ignores me, and that really annoys me. He acts all cool and stuff," said Hidan.

Suddenly, Fran decided to ask Hidan something which she had been wondering about.

"The other members...what are they like?" she asked curiously.

"Well, they're not a really nice bunch I'll give you that. There's Deidara, he's always whining about his art. Itachi is rather quiet, knows his business, he's from the Uchiha clan of your village, I think you know his younger brother, Sasuke?" said Hidan.

"I've never met him personally but he was my teammates' bestfriend. They meant a lot to eachother. I heard he wants to kill Itachi," said Fran.

"Yeah, and Itachi barely even cares. Then there's his partner Kisame, he's not bad. Zetsu's skeptical of my religion, so I don't really like him. And then there's our leader, really annoying guy, and his partner Konan. She's the nicest of them, but really quiet because of her dark past. Apparently she shared the same past as our leader did. I'm sorry I can't tell you his name, too much information I shouldn't have said already," he said.

"That's okay, I understand. The people in my village, and obviously all the other villages, hate the Akatsuki. I don't know why, call me strange, but I can't find it in my heart to hate them. Save for you of course, I don't think of you as an Akatsuki member, just as my boyfriend," said Fran: "I've never hated anyone, and my family always scolded me for being too soft. They said I will suffer in this world. But say I tried to attack you instead when you saved me, where would that have gotten us?" asked Fran.

Hidan reached out and touched a lock of her black hair. He had never come across anyone so innocent, especially a ninja.

"I should learn to be more like you, then maybe I could get somewhere," he said.


	19. Chapter 19

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

The Akatsuki had joined together in their dark hideout where no light ever reached. Pain had gathered them to send them out to capture the nine-tails. But he wasn't so sure that sending Hidan and Kakuzu on it would be such a good idea this time...

"You two were originally sent to capture the nine-tails, not to destroy the Fire Temple!" said Pain in a rather angry tone.

"Hey tell that to Kakuzu! He's the one who couldn't control himself! I tried to tell the idiot that it would slow us down but he was so eager to get his damn bounty that he just ignored me!" Hidan said angrily.

"Hm, for once he's right," Kakuzu said: "I admit that I was too blinded by the concept of money. I apologise."

"You have wasted valuable time, Kakuzu. But still, I will close my eyes this time. Next time however, I expect a good job. Is that understood?" said Pain.

"Yes sir," said Kakuzu: "Though I might add that Hidan's foolish rituals didn't exactly speed things up."

"Hey! How dare you call my rituals foolish you dirtbag! Why the hell don't you just admit you were blinded with your stupid obsession on money you crappy, old jerk!" Hidan shouted angrily, raising his fist at Kakuzu.

"Hahaha! Look at you two, you're hopeless! I can't believe you're actually sending them out again! Hm!" said Deidara, watching the two with amusement.

"It is my decision who I send out, Deidara," said Pain.

"I could do a much better job if you'd just let me! Have you forgotten who it was that captured the one-tails? Hm?" said Deidara.

"You may be correct, but I suggest you keep quiet now Deidara. Please," said Konan quietly.

"Fine, but don't come whining to me when these two losers fail again. Hm," said Deidara.

"You may go now, and stick to your mission this time," said Pain, ignoring Deidara's complaints and addressing Hidan and Kakuzu.

"Hear that Kakuzu? Stick to the mission!" said Hidan.

Pain inwardly sighed, and Konan felt him tense up. Turning towards the two, she said: "Please be gone now."

"Fine. Come on Kakuzu, let's go," said Hidan.

As the two of them left on their way however, Hidan concentrated on his inward fear. He knew that the Leaf Village was the home of his beloved Fran, and going there to attack them was pure betrayal. He wished he could have dropped the fake bravado earlier and declined to go. But what would they have said? And besides, that would surely arouse suspicion since they all knew about his love for slaughter.

The truth simply was that there was no way out of it.

Kakuzu, irritating as he was, sensed that Hidan had quotients down, and once again decided to inquire him about the matter.

"Not so eager now, are we?"

"Huh? What-ugh! Do me a favour and don't start again, K?" said Hidan.

"This is the second time you're acting unusual. You're never quiet," said Kakuzu.

"Don't pretend you care. I know you hate me," said Hidan.

"It is my business too if you're not yourself. It will affect your performance in battle. You're right, I far from care for you, and I do wish to kill you sometime," said Kakuzu.

"Jeez, don't hold back or anything," said Hidan: "Besides, I find you just as hateful too."

"The feeling is mutual then," said Kakuzu.

Whatever, I don't need his damn trash talking. What really matters is how the hell I'm gonna get out of this one without arousing suspicion! thought Hidan, worrying about Fran.


	20. Chapter 20

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

They had been walking for quite a while now, and night was fast falling in. Hidan hoped that its darkness would conceal his increasing anxiety about what they were going to do. He and Kakuzu had refrained from speaking to eachother, and Hidan had to admit that he actually felt hurt about Kakuzu admitting that he hated him. Sure, Hidan found the guy annoying and may even have thought the words 'I hate you' when Kakuzu got on his nerves. But hearing it said out loud with no remorse from his partner had really shocked him. Still, what was important now was not Kakuzu, but getting out of this mess.

Little did he know that he was going to be dragged out of it faster than he could anticipate.

"Well, well. Look who I found!" said a husky voice from behind them.

The two of them turned around, and could hardly believe who was standing there, surveying them with those half-forgotten snake eyes.

"Orochimaru," said Hidan.

"What's the matter? Surely you're not displeased to see your old friend are you?" said Orochimaru, twisting a lock of his long black hair.

"We're kinda busy, 'old friend'. So if you don't mind, we're leaving," said Hidan, and turned to walk away.

"Oh I don't think so Hidan. After all, it was you I was looking for!" said Orochimaru, and in a flash, serpents flew from his arm and towards Hidan, who quickly sensing the attack, turned and slashed them with his scythe.

"What is it you want?" asked Kakuzu.

"I thought I already stated that, Kakuzu. I came here for Hidan," said Orochimaru.

"What exactly do you want with me?" asked Hidan, holding his scythe infront of him.

"You see Hidan, you have something I want. Do you know what that is?" asked Orochimaru.

Hidan looked at him questioningly, and in a flash, Orochimaru was behind him, holding a kunai knife to his throat.

"Your immortality," he whispered in his ear.

Suddenly though, Orochimaru was thrown savagely into a tree by Kakuzu's detached arm.

"Ugh...Kakuzu..." Orochimaru spat angrily.

"Oh so you don't hate me now?" said Hidan.

"Quiet. He isn't fooling around," said Kakuzu, watching Orochimaru stand up.

"I suppose I'll have to dispose of you first, Kakuzu. How fun to be playing with you two again," said Orochimaru, and laughed evilly beneath his breath.

Then, without warning, the two flew at eachother, fighting with the intent to destroy. Orochimaru opened his mouth and a sharp blade emerged from it, diving into Kakuzu's chest. But Kakuzu had four more hearts, and the fact that one of them was punctured beyond functioning hardly mattered. However, when Orochimaru directed his serpent towards him, it bit into Kakuzu's flesh and the venom immediately coursed through his veins, paralyzing him. Kakuzu fell with a thud on the ground, unable to move due to the venom. It wasn't intended to kill him, but it was intended to keep him out of the way until Orochimaru got Hidan.

However, he appeared to change his mind.

"Hmm...you're down Kakuzu. And although I wasn't intending to kill you, I do think that you've lived enough," said Orochimaru. Taking out his long blade, he was about to sink it into Kakuzu's remaining hearts, when Hidan's scythe collided with it, stopping it in its tracks.

"You haven't forgotten about me, have you snakey?" said Hidan, glaring at Orochimaru.

"Forgotten about you? Of course not dear Hidan! I was just about to take you with me," said Orochimaru, and sharply kicked Hidan in his gut, then whacked him across the face, causing him to stagger.

Taking the opportunity, Orochimaru sent out his serpents flying from his white arm. They wound themselves around Hidan, binding his arms to his sides and knocking him down to the ground.

Slowly, Orochimaru moved towards him and picked up his fallen scythe from the ground. Kneeling down on him, he ran his fingers down Hidan's face and neck and said: "That wasn't much of a fight, Hidan, surely you didn't hold back because I'm an old friend did you?"

Hidan struggled to get free but the snakes tightened so much around him that they caused him to cry out.

"Aaaww, what's the matter, can't move can you? But don't worry...it will be alright soon," said Orochimaru, and lifting Hidan's scythe, ran its blade over Hidan's unprotected neck.

Hidan whimpered fearfully, afraid that he would end up being beheaded, but Orochimaru appeared to merely taunt him without any murderous intent.

Finally, when Orochimaru retreated the scythe, he flung it on his back and lifted Hidan from the ground. One of the serpents bit into his flesh and he was instantly paralysed.

"Where are you gonna take me?" asked Hidan weakly, breathless from the harsh squeezing of the serpents that bound him.

"You'll find out soon enough," said Orochimaru, and after gagging him with a cloth, took off with him into the night.


	21. Chapter 21

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Hours after the gruel scenario, Kakuzu recovered and slowly got up from the ground. He noticed that Hidan's Jashin amulet was lying on the ground, having fallen from his neck while he was attacked by Orochimaru. Kakuzu didn't bother taking it with him, regardless of the fact that he knew how important it was to his religious partner. Instead, he began making his way back to the Akatsuki hideout to inform the others of what had happened.

"Kakuzu, what is the meaning of this?" asked Pain, his Rinnegan focused directly on Kakuzu.

"I apologise master, but I'm afraid our failure is for good reason this time," said Kakuzu.

"How so?" asked Pain.

"We were making our way towards the Leaf village, when we were suddenly attacked by Orochimaru. He knocked me down...and kidnapped Hidan," Kakuzu explained grimly.

"What?" said Pain, while Konan gasped.

"Hah! Serves that bastard right! Hm!" said Deidara.

"Be quiet Deidara!" Pain shouted suddenly, shocking them all.

"S-sorry m-master," said Deidara, surprised at Pain's sudden outburst.

"If one of us has been captured then we must bring him back! Don't forget what I said about holding no grudges against eachother!" said Pain.

"Fine, hm," said Deidara quietly.

"Might I add something else, master?" asked Kakuzu.

"Of course," said Pain.

"Lately, Hidan has been acting rather unusual. During our first travel to the Leaf village, he was perfectly normal until we stopped for a while. In that time, he went somewhere and returned, and from then on was quiet, too quiet. He was the same today," said Kakuzu.

"What do you think the reason could be?" asked Pain.

"To tell the truth, I asked him but he stubbornly refused to answer, and I'm afraid I haven't got the slightest idea," said Kakuzu.

"Why are you worrying about something like that? Just forget about him! Let him act however he wants," said Kisame, but Itachi disagreed.

"No, I'm afraid I disagree with you here, Kisame," he said: "A person's behaviour determines what they're going through. If his behaviour changed so abruptly, then surely there must be a significant reason for it."

"Excellent point Itachi, but we still don't know how to decipher it, and I'm afraid that our priority right now is finding out where Orochimaru is keeping Hidan," said Pain.

"And another thing I almost forgot to point out. The reason for Orochimaru taking Hidan was to steal his immortality," said Kakuzu.

"I see...we must find them," said Pain.

"Should we send Zetsu?" asked Konan, looking at Pain with interest.

"Perhaps..." said Pain.


	22. Chapter 22

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

It was later that night that Fran made her way towards the forest where she usually met up with Hidan. The air had grown chilly, and she was starting to feel cold. However, at the thought of seeing Hidan, she immediately warmed up, smiled to herself, and ran forward, eager to get there as quickly as possible.

When she got there however, nobody was waiting.

Surprised, almost shocked, Fran glanced around her, wondering whether she might have missed him or mistaken the place. But no, she was in the correct area, and Hidan was nowhere in sight.

Strange...he's always here first... She thought to herself, starting to feel worried. But still, perhaps she should wait for him. Perhaps he was a bit late because he had some business to take care of. He was an Akatsuki member after all.

So Fran contented herself with this idea and seated herself on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest. Time flew by and there was still no sign of him. She was start to feel extremely uneasy now, sensing that something must have happened.

There's no way he would ever bail out on me, she thought.

Getting up from the leafy ground, she began pacing around the clearing, trying to kill time and listening closely for the slightest sound. Suddenly, she spotted something on the ground, lying a few feet away from where she was standing. Curiously, she walked towards it and kneeled down before it.

She was shocked to find out that it was Hidan's amulet!

Still unable to believe her eyes, she picked up the necklace and fingered it, and was even more shocked to find blood glinting on the chain!

She grasped it tightly, staring at it and wondering what on earth could have happened. Surely there was something wrong, the very fact that his amulet, so precious and important to Hidan was lying here, and with what had to be his blood smeared on it was clear proof that he had been attacked.

I don't believe this...I can't! Thought Fran, barely able to move from where she was. Finally though, she managed to stand up, and held the necklace in her palm, running her finger over its silver, and realised that tears had run down her cheeks. Whatever had happened had to have been really bad, and he was surely in trouble. But how could she find him, or know what had happened? She had nowhere to even begin! And all these unanswerable questions were starting to throw her in despair.

Hidan...she thought sadly, wiping off her tears. As she cleaned the blood off the necklace, she thought: I swear I'll find you!


	23. Chapter 23

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Hidan was kneeling on the stony floor of a room in Orochimaru's hideout. The venom had forced him into unconsciousness and he had just managed to recover from it. At first, he felt strange, but then as he came entirely back to his senses, he realised that he had been tied up with rope, so much that he could barely move an inch. He also realised that he had been gagged since he felt a cloth bound tightly around his mouth, preventing him from crying out.

Damn it...he's got me at his mercy, he thought.

Looking down, he realised that his Jashin amulet was gone, and knew that getting it back would very difficult, if not impossible.

But at least, now he could avoid attacking the Leaf village and betraying Fran. He was very pleased about this, because it would have torn his heart out to betray her. He loved her so much, and wanted to kill Orochimaru for taking him away from her. But what could he do? He was completely powerless.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and the dark figure of Orochimaru appeared in the doorway. He walked in slowly, leering at Hidan, who glared back.

"Forgive me for having to restrain you like this but I'm afraid that keeping you here against your will would not have been possible otherwise," he said, bending down before him.

Hidan looked him directly in the eyes, glaring viciously at him, and Orochimaru glanced back, hunger for his immortality shining brightly in his snake eyes.

"Come now, don't glare at me like that, young Hidan. I'm your friend, and you haven't seen me in ages. You should be pleased to be here," said Orochimaru in a fake gentle voice. He leaned in on him and licked his neck slowly, running it over the cuts he had inflicted on him. Then as he retreated, he said: "And as my friend, I'm sure you'll hand over your immortality...won't you?" he said, suddenly turning violent as he wrenched back Hidan's head and kicked him violently in his back, causing him to cry out in pain.

"Or else...I will tear you apart and burn you alive!" he spat, glaring viciously at Hidan through his cruel eyes.

Hidan remained quiet, fear flooding through him. He would rather trade his immortality to this bastard than risk never being with Fran again.

Orochimaru grabbed his cloak and tore it off, exposing his back. Then he took out a long, sharp blade and grasped it tightly.

"Let me give you a taste of pain...then tell me if you'll give me your immortality," said Orochimaru, and with that, he began plunging the blade viciously into Hidan's bare back, sticking it in deep and twisting it, then wrenching it back out and stabbing him again.

"Mmmmmph!" Hidan screamed, unable to bear the deathly pain which throbbed in his back, as Orochimaru stabbed him repeatedly, remorselessly, thriving in his pain.

"Oh it's so beautiful knowing that I can hurt you as much as I want because you're not going to die!" Orochimaru said, diving the blade into his arm and ripping through it. Hidan's screams were unbearable to hear, even though they were drowned out by his gag, and his twitching agonising to witness.

Finally, Orochimaru retreated his blood-soaked blade, and watched as Hidan crumpled on the ground, sobbing in agony. Blood had soaked his back and stained the ropes binding him, so that his back was nothing but a sea of red. Kneeling down before him, Orochimaru lowered his gag and listened satisfactorily to the heartbreaking sobs that racked his butchered body.

"Hurts, doesn't it? Poor Hidan...if you would just hand over your immortality then I'll spare your life. What do you say...old friend?" he said.

"T-take it...I d-don't want it..." said Hidan weakly through his sobs, not once looking at his captor.

"Excellent...just what I wanted to hear. But you know what? I feel that I want to have some more fun with you while you're unable to die...then once I take your immortality away, your pain will disappear along with your life!" said Orochimaru, and burst out laughing.


	24. Chapter 24

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Naruto was trying hard to perfect his Rasengan, focusing on gathering wind chakra and combining it to create a new and more powerful version of his technique, but so far he had proved rather unsuccessful. Kakashi and Yamato were watching him, Yamato carefully watching each clone, lest his Fox's chakra emerged.

Sakura suddenly ran onto the Training field towards Kakashi, carrying another basket of her pills which Naruto never touched due to their unbearable taste.

"Kakashi sensei!" she called out.

"Hm?" said Kakashi, diverting his gaze from his beloved book.

"Have you seen Fran? I haven't seen her for a while, I thought maybe she was here with you," said Sakura, slightly out of breath from her run.

"Well, she isn't here, and to tell you the truth I haven't seen her around today either. Have you looked around the village?" asked Kakashi.

"Well, I checked at her house but she wasn't there, and I haven't checked every part of the village yet. I'll keep searching for her," said Sakura. And setting down her basket, she turned and ran back towards the village.

Fran was sitting on a bench near the flowing river beside her. She was gazing at Hidan's amulet, fingering it and wondering what could have happened. She felt so unhappy, not only because of the worries that plagued her mind but also because of the fact that she could strictly tell no one, not even her friends...

Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice calling her name accompanied by the sound of running footsteps. She turned and saw Sakura running towards her, a look of concern on her face. Quickly, Fran pocketed the amulet to avoid questions and watched as Sakura arrived near her.

"Fran, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Is something wrong?" she asked, smoothing back her ruffled pink hair.

"Hey, Sakura. Um, well..." Fran wasn't sure what to say. What could she say? Everything seemed restricted.

"Hey...is something on your mind?" Sakura asked gently, sitting next to her friend.

"Y-yeah...I guess," said Fran.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Sakura timidly.

"Um...I-I don't know," said Fran.

Sakura stared worriedly at Fran, wondering what could possibly be bothering her friend so much.

"I just...I can't talk about...about it," said Fran, holding back tears. She hated crying infront of her friends, or infront of anyone for that matter.

"You can't? Why? Is it bad?" asked Sakura.

"Um, you could say that," said Fran. What was she supposed to say, that she had fallen madly in love with one of the Akatsuki?

"Listen...I'm not forcing you to tell me if you don't want to but, I'm here to listen if you want to, and I swear I won't tell anybody," said Sakura.

"I don't know...it's not that I don't want to tell because I really do but it's too darn complicated, you know..." said Fran.

"I see...can you at least tell me what it's about?" asked Sakura.

Fran remained silent, then decided to play with words and describe her situation lightly.

"You see," she began: "Lately, I found a guy who I really like, and he liked me too. We fell in love and we met up everyday, but last night, he didn't come, and well, I found something that belonged to him on the ground smeared with blood..."

Sakura gasped, knowing that this couldn't be good.

"With blood?" she said: "Oh my, I see. That doesn't sound good. What do you suppose happened?"

"I don't know, I have no idea, I don't even know if he's dead or alive," said Fran, and to her frustration realised that a tear was sliding down her cheek.

"Don't worry, I can help you find him, we all will!" said Sakura, but this worried Fran even more.

"No! No you can't!" she said quickly.

"But why not?" asked Sakura.

"It's just that...I um...well..." Fran was at a loss how to put it.

Sakura looked questioningly at her, confused at this strange behaviour, yet concerned for her.

"I suppose that...the reason is that I can't be with him," said Fran.

"Can't...be with him?" Sakura repeated.

"Yes," said Fran.

"But why?" Sakura sensed that something dark lay in the confines of this situation.

"Because...he's an...he's a..." Fran stammered, unable to speak the truth.

"Come on, don't be afraid, I won't tell anyone and that's a promise," said Sakura, placing her hand on Fran's shoulder.

After a pause, Fran found the courage she needed.

"Because he's a member...of the Akatsuki."


	25. Chapter 25

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Sakura stared wide-eyed at Fran, unable to believe her ears. She had expected anything, but not this...nothing had prepared her for this. In shock, her hand slipped away from Fran's shoulder, and disbelief clouded her green eyes.

"Of the...Ak-katsu-ki?" she stammered.

Fran nodded sadly, breaking her gaze away from Sakura's eyes in guilt.

"B-but Fran...how...how could...?" Sakura stammered, staring at Fran.

"When we went searching for the two who destroyed the Fire Temple, a ninja attacked me and almost killed me when a guy intervened and saved my life. I didn't know who he was because he wasn't wearing the Akatsuki cloak. But the second time I met him, he was, and I was shocked. But he never hurt me, in any way. He was so nice to me, he didn't even appear the slightest bit dangerous! Instead we fell in love and met up in secret every night. He even told me about the other members. He told me everything about him. But last night he wasn't there. Something must've happened..." said Fran.

"So...when you said that the Akatsuki might not all be bad...you were referring to..." said Sakura, realising what Fran had meant.

"Exactly, and I couldn't say I had met him could I? Not when love was involved...not when I can't live without him...not when he saved my life..." said Fran.

Sakura shrugged, completely at a loss of what to say or even think. This was one tricky situation that she couldn't handle.

"Please, please tell me that you won't tell anyone! Please Sakura!" Fran begged.

"I-I won't but...but Fran listen...how do you know that it's not some kind of trick?" said Sakura.

"Of course not! It can never be!" said Fran.

"But how can you be so sure? He might've even put his...um-"

"-necklace," said Fran.

"His necklace there on purpose to lead you into a trap!" said Sakura.

Fran had never gave the matter a thought. Could she have been too blinded by love to see the truth of things? But what proof was there that Sakura was right?

"And Fran...I hate to say it but...we're looking to wipe out the Akatsuki not befriend them!" said Sakura.

"If it was Sasuke...would you say the same thing?" said Fran.

This made Sakura quieten down and consider the matter. Sasuke, the love of her life, who had left them, abandoned them, even when Sakura begged him desperately to stay, even when Naruto and the others had risked their lives for him...he had still left.

And she still loved him.

"No...I wouldn't..." she admitted sadly.

"I'm sorry to have brought him up Sakura, but it was the only way you could understand how I feel," said Fran, watching Sakura's eyes fill with tears.

"I know, and I do, I do understand. But I can't help you find him...how can I?" said Sakura in a broken voice.

Fran understood. Yes, this was something she had to do alone. But where could she start? She had no clue as to what had happened. Nothing.

"Sakura...I'm sorry," said Fran.

"No, I'm sorry. What kind of friend am I if I can't even help you?" said Sakura.

"You have your reasons, and I understand. But I will find him Sakura. It won't end this way I promise. I've never been one to give up on something, never, and I'm not starting now."

Fran stood up, and raised her head towards the sky, watching each cloud go by and the sun's thin rays filtering through.

"What will you do?" asked Sakura.

"I'll search the whole forest and see what I can find," said Fran.

She was already moving towards the direction of it when Sakura got up and ran towards her.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," she said.

And the two kunoichi ran towards the forest, prepared to search forever if needs be.


	26. Chapter 26

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Because it was morning, the forest was much better lit and anything on the ground was visible, as opposed to night. Fran guided Sakura towards the place where she had found the amulet and soon they were out in the familiar clearing.

"This is where we usually meet up, and here is where I found the necklace, infact there's still some blood on the ground," said Fran.

"Yeah, and look, there are a lot of marks on the ground...looks like there's been a fight," said Sakura.

"Yeah...but with who?" Fran wondered, glancing around.

Suddenly, Sakura spotted something dark not too far from them, and went to check it out. It was a few drops of dark purple liquid, and looked strangely like an animal's venom.

"Found something?" Fran asked eagerly, running towards Sakura.

"Yeah...this liquid looks like poison from an animal..." said Sakura.

"But what kind of animal? This doesn't make sense-" Fran began but Sakura intervened:

"-No...actually it makes perfect sense," she said grimly: "When I was studying how to cure poisons, I also studied how to recognise the source. There's no doubt about it...this is snake venom!"

"But then...I don't get it," said Fran.

"You can never be too sure but...supposing the other person who could've been fighting with your guy was using snakes..." said Sakura.

"Snakes...?" said Fran.

"Orochimaru," Sakura concluded.

The cursed name shocked Fran. She knew little of the evil Orochimaru, but knew he was merciless and totally evil. Could it really have been him? But what would he want with Hidan?

"Kakashi said that Orochimaru was a member of the Akatsuki...could it be that he attacked him?" said Fran.

"He holds a grudge against all Akatsuki members...no doubt he could've attacked him and maybe even taken him somewhere..." Sakura didn't want to remark that he could have killed him too because Fran would be devastated.

"How the hell are we supposed to get to Orochimaru? Without getting reduced to a bloody mess I mean," said Fran.

"When we went to search for Sasuke with Captain Yamato, we found his hideout and went in. But there's a whole maze of corridors and a hundreds of rooms! Not to mention Orochimaru and Kabuto...and Sasuke..." said Sakura, sadly aware that he too would not spare them.

Fran felt panic well up inside her. What was she supposed to do now?

"Going there would be suicide..." said Fran.

"I thought you said you never gave up," said Sakura.

"So you're saying we should go there...alone?" said Fran.

"No...not alone...we could pretend we're going for Sasuke, and get everyone's help. Whatever it takes, we'll save him!" said Sakura.

Fran was amazed at Sakura's determination to risk her life rescuing the enemy simply because he meant everything to her friend.

"Thank you so much Sakura...thank you," said Fran, and without warning, gave Sakura a hug.


	27. Chapter 27

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Orochimaru dragged Hidan towards his favourite room. Upon arrival, he kicked open the wooden door and led his prisoner towards an iron table. He pulled Hidan roughly onto it and enclosed his wrists and feet with the metal restraints, securing him in a spreadeagled position.

Hidan's back throbbed unbearably to lie on and he felt almost nauseated with fear. He stared at Orochimaru, watching him as he grabbed something off the wall opposite him. When he turned around, Hidan's heart nearly stopped beating with horror.

"Come now...don't be frightened...it might sting just a little though," said Orochimaru, running a pale finger over the sawed, steel wheel he was holding. He moved slowly towards Hidan, who gazed fearfully back, beads of sweat running down his face.

"No...please, don't...don't..." he begged, but Orochimaru just grinned and laughed.

"Kabuto," Sasuke called out to the white-haired assistant, who was walking up the corridor.

"Yes, Sasuke?" he asked without turning to look.

"I heard that Orochimaru has captured one of the Akatsuki...is this true?" said Sasuke.

"You heard correctly...why?" asked Kabuto.

"What is it he wants?" asked Sasuke, staring at Kabuto's back.

"Well, this man has the power of immortality. Lord Orochimaru craves it, so he captured him to gain it. Anything else you would like to know?" asked Kabuto.

"Hm, no...for now," said Sasuke, and with a final suspicious glance, turned and walked away.

Kabuto watched him leaving from the corner of his eye, then smiled to himself and left.

Sasuke was starting to get really inquisitive lately.

Hours later, when night had taken over, Sasuke walked silently towards the room where he knew the Akatsuki member was being held prisoner. He kept his Sharingan activated, lest he was caught sneaking around by some unwanted person. Soon he arrived and placed his hand on the knob. The door creaked open, and he could see the dark figure of a man lying on the floor.

Slowly, he walked in, and felt himself stepping on something liquidy. When lowered his eyes to see what it was, he found that he had stepped on the man's blood, which covered the floor and his own battered body.

"Looks like he wasn't too gentle on you..." Sasuke remarked, gazing at the man, who didn't answer.

"So...you can't die, can you? Must be hard to have to live through such agony..." Sasuke continued.

Still the man did not reply, and Sasuke bent down before him to take a closer look at him. The man's chest and stomach were slashed through in a cannibalistic way, and all the blood around him had evidently flowed from there. Gazing at his face, Sasuke realised that the man was actually very young, surely in his early twenties. His grey hair was messed up and spotted with red, and his purple eyes would not look back at him. Rather carefully, Sasuke placed his fingers beneath the man's chin and raised his face slowly so that he looked back at him.

"Hurts that bad?" asked Sasuke, noticing that the man was silently crying.

"Y-yes," he finally whispered.

"What's your name, then?" asked Sasuke.

"H-Hidan," he answered.

"Orochimaru wants your immortality...yet he's toying with you before he gets it," said Sasuke.

"We used to be friends..." Hidan whispered.

"Orochimaru is merciless, he betrayed his own teammates," said Sasuke, and yet, hadn't he done the same?

"I don't care if I die...it's my love I'm worried about," Hidan said, and Sasuke noticed that his eyes were clouded with a lifeless gaze, and the pain in them was hard to watch...except for Sasuke of course.

"Your love?" Sasuke asked.

Hidan nodded, hurting to even move an inch.

"Who is she?" asked Sasuke.

"Sorry, but...I cannot say...must protect her..." said Hidan weakly.

"Hm," said Sasuke, and slowly got up. As he moved away, Hidan asked: "Will he keep...torturing me?"

Sasuke paused, then said: "Perhaps...perhaps not."


	28. Chapter 28

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

"Okay, just leave it to me, don't say a word unless I ask you something, okay?" said Sakura.

"Got it," said Fran.

"Kakashi sensei," Sakura called out.

"Hm? What is it Sakura?" asked Kakashi, tearing his gaze away from his book.

"Um, there's something I have to speak with you about. It's very important, and I've already discussed it with Fran," said Sakura.

Snapping his book shut, Kakashi glanced at the two girls, then asked: "What's wrong?"

"It's Sasuke...I feel we've waited enough," said Sakura.

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi.

"The time has come...for us to head back and look for him. We have to convince him to return, Kakashi sensei! Please!" Sakura begged, partly speaking the truth. After all, she had never stopped wishing to try once more in retrieving Sasuke.

"Sakura...you've already gone there with Captain Yamato. You all saw what he was like. Going there again would just put us in danger again," said Kakashi.

"We have to sensei! Otherwise, what would all this training be for? Isn't Sasuke our priority...our goal?" said Sakura.

"Perhaps, but don't forget that Naruto hasn't even perfected his Rasengan yet," Kakashi pointed out.

"This time, this time you'll be accompanying us sensei!" said Sakura.

Kakashi sighed, wondering how to convince Sakura that going straight to Orochimaru's lair was pure suicide.

"Fran, you have your Majigan right? It's strong enough isn't it?" asked Sakura, turning to her friend for support.

"Yeah! And not only that, but really, just think about it sensei! This time around we'll be six instead of four! Your Sharingan is unrivalled and my Majigan is more than a match! What do you say?" Fran said, trying her best to persuade Kakashi. After all, she was the prime reason they were going there.

"Uh...well..." Kakashi scratched his head, starting to feel persuaded.

"Tell Naruto, see what he thinks!" encouraged Sakura.

"Uh, fine," Kakashi shrugged and turned towards Naruto's numerous clones.

"Naruto...how do you feel?" he called.

"Eh? Fine! Why?" Naruto asked confusedly.

"Do you feel you're up for a really tough mission?" asked Kakashi, already guessing the answer.

"Well duh! Bring it on! I can take on anything you throw at me!" Naruto shouted excitedly.

"Even if it consists of getting Sasuke back?" asked Kakashi.

Suddenly, as though slapped, Naruto's grin faltered and he stared disbelievingly back.

"S-Sasuke?" he repeated.

"It was Sakura's idea," Kakashi inclined his head towards the hopeful kunoichi beside him.

"Sakura..." said Naruto.

"Please Naruto..." Sakura begged.

Fran inwardly joined the plea for Naruto to accept. If only he would, then she would be one step forward to rescuing Hidan.

"I-I um...I..." Naruto stared down at his hands, feeling utterly baffled. What should he do?

"Let's give it another try! We can't give up! We'll keep trying until he comes back! We have to let him realise that we're his family now!" Sakura was begging with her heart and soul, almost forgetting that it was for Fran that they were going.

"I...OK," Naruto finally agreed.

"Really? You accept?" said Sakura.

"Yeah...let's do it," said Naruto.

Thanks Sakura... Thought Fran, smiling contentedly at her friends.


	29. Chapter 29

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Team Kakashi, along with Yamato, gathered in Kakashi's house to plan out their mission. Since they had already been to the evil snake's hideout, the problem was not that of actually finding the place but of getting in without getting caught by anyone other than Sasuke.

"Right, so, let's start choosing everyone's role," said Kakashi, leading them to his small sitting room. Naruto immediately flung himself down on couch and Sakura sat carefully next to him.

"So," said Kakashi, standing before them: "We'll start with you, Sai. You're to send out your mice sketches to search around the place to check whether the coast is clear for us to proceed."

"Got it," said Sai.

"Then, we'll all head in and split up, I'll go with Naruto, Fran with Sakura and Sai with Yamato. That okay for everyone?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, awesome," said Naruto.

"When looking around, be careful. If Kabuto or, even worse, Orochimaru finds any of you, stay calm and focus on escaping rather than fighting. Base your strategy on defence not offense. That clear, Naruto?" said Kakashi.

"Wha? Yeah, why?" asked Naruto.

"Because you have an inefficient habit of charging into battle, that's why," said Kakashi.

"Hrrm," Naruto grunted, scrunching up his face in annoyance.

"I think that's everything. We should head out tonight since the darkness will hide us. We'll meet up at seven in the evening and I estimate that we'll get there in two and a half hours. We won't stop until we arrive, no breaks, not even any pausing. Understood?" said Kakashi.

"Yeah," said everyone.

"Cool, see ya then!" said Kakashi, already moving towards his book on the coffee table.

That evening, Sakura and Fran were waiting there first beside the forest which led to the exit of the village. Sakura straightened out her pink locks before turning to look at Fran.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked quietly.

Fran nodded, but Sakura noticed that she looked rather white, and her hand was shaking slightly.

"Hey it's gonna be fine. Okay? I'll be with you, I'm the only one who knows about the real task we're going for, I'll help you find him. Okay? We're not leaving without him!" said Sakura.

"Yeah...thanks Sakura, I'm glad I told you, it's great to know that I've got someone I can trust," said Fran: "It felt pretty lonely not being able to tell anyone. I was starting to go crazy in despair."

"Huh, I know what you mean. I felt the same way when...when Sasuke left the village..." said Sakura.

At that point, Naruto came running towards them, looking really excited.

"Hey guys, I mean girls. You both ready?" said Naruto.

"Yep," said Fran, whilst Sakura nodded, her face set in determination. She knew that tonight might be her chance to be reunited with her beloved Sasuke. But whether in life or death, she did not know, and as a matter of a fact, neither did she want to.

Soon Kakashi, Yamato and Sai were making their way towards them as well.

"Everyone here? Good. We'd better go then, come on everyone. Good luck," said Kakashi.

And together, the six of them turned and ran out towards the great forest where their path awaited.


	30. Chapter 30

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Late at night, when the deep, black bowl of the sky concealed the travellers who had finally arrived at their destination, the preparations for the mission began. The hideout was situated in the rocky ground beside hills in a desolated area, solitary and rough. Sai laid down his scroll and pulled out his paintbrush. Dipping it in a ceramic pot of black ink, he sketched out ten small mice, then made the correct hand signs and watched his tiny creations scurry off into the area.

For a moment, they waited with bated breath, then the mice returned, and Sai turned and nodded at his team.

Together, they moved out silently towards the familiar hole in the ground which served as an entry to the evil lair. It was wide enough for one person only, so Kakashi dropped in first. One by one, everyone entered, and Fran gazed around the place. It was very dimly lit, the only source of light being the waxy candles on the stone wall on which their shadows danced. The area was a maze of corridors, all paved with circular designs on the walls and floors. The place gave off a feeling of irking mystery, of a quest uncompleted, of questions unanswered, of secrets untold. It was very eery, and the air was musty and rather chilly, far more than the outside.

"Shall we split up?" asked Kakashi, pulling up his headband to expose his Sharingan, a farewell gift from his dead childhood friend, Obito.

Fran activated her Majigan and looked at Sakura, who nodded.

"We're ready," said Fran.

"Us too," said Yamato.

"Good, then let's head out. Take care," said Kakashi, and with that, he and Naruto took off in the direction ahead of them. Yamato and Sai took the left path whilst Sakura and Fran took the right one.

The two kunoichi ran, with a different goal than that of the others. Fran ran forward, her beautiful locks of hair fanning out behind her as she ran with the speed of her Majigan.

"Slow down Fran!" Sakura hissed, trying her best to catch up.

Fran tried to slow down her pace a little and said: "Sorry Sakura, but try to hurry up a bit. We gotta find him!"

"Yeah," said Sakura, and tried to increase her speed.

Suddenly, a loud sound reached their ears, and they stopped abruptly in shock.

"What was that?" hissed Fran.

"I don't know!" Sakura whispered back, looking just as fearful.

To their horror, they saw the shadow of a human figure approaching on the wall from around the corner, and heard the sound of steady footsteps approaching.

They held their breath and braced themselves, knowing that there was nowhere to hide.

A few moments later, the shadow's owner came into view, and Fran couldn't believe her eyes.

It was Hidan!

"Fran!" he said.

"H-Hidan? Oh Hidan!" Fran rushed towards him and jumped on him, hugging him fiercely.

"I missed you so much!" said Hidan.

"So did I! I really missed you! I was so worried about you! Are you alright?" Fran said quickly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Come on, we have to get out of here!" he said.

"Yeah, come on let's go," said Fran.

Sakura caught up to them and the two of them began following Hidan through the maze of corridors.

"Man, I can't believe you're not hurt or anything!" said Fran.

"Yeah, guess I was pretty lucky," said Hidan.

"You lost your scythe, did Orochimaru take it?" asked Fran.

"Yeah, when he attacked me. But don't worry about that, I was luckier to have found you," said Hidan.

Fran giggled and grasped his hand tightly, when suddenly he came to a halt.

"Wait a second. There's something I have to check, follow me," he said, turning towards a wooden door on their left.

"Huh? Um, okay," said Fran.

Hidan laid his hand on the knob and twisted it, opening the door with a creak.

"Hidan? Where are you going?" Fran asked, following him inside.

"Fran, wait!" said Sakura, feeling uneasy.

Suddenly, the door closed behind them and they heard an evil laugh.

"Look Hidan, look who came to save you," said a deep, husky voice.

"What the?" Fran spun around to see, not Hidan, but Kabuto, standing behind her.

And infront of them was Orochimaru, and the real Hidan in his clutches.


	31. Chapter 31

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

"What's going on here?" Sakura shouted angrily, glaring at the smirking Kabuto.

"Relax, little Sakura, no one's going to hurt you...yet," Orochimaru leered at them.

Fran's eyes fell on the real Hidan, who was battered with deep, bleeding wounds. His usually slicked back hair was messed up and a few hairs fell infront of his face. His wrists were bound tightly behind his back, as were his ankles, and a black cloth was stretched tightly around his mouth, gagging him. Orochimaru had both hands on his arms, digging his claws into them.

"Let him go, you bastard!" Fran shouted at Orochimaru, her eyes shining brightly in a blue hue.

"Aawww, what's wrong Fran, worried about your beloved?" Orochimaru taunted, gazing straight into her eyes, which were burning with fury.

"How did you know about me?" Fran demanded, glaring at her boyfriend's captor.

"Simple," said Kabuto: "I put him to sleep and searched his mind. I learned all about you. I know everything single thing about you now."

"I couldn't care less, just let him go!" Fran shouted angrily.

"Don't fret little girl. After all, what makes you think I will?" said Orochimaru, pressing his claws deeper into Hidan's skin, drawing out blood.

Suddenly, at the sight of the red liquid staining Orochimaru's claws and the sound of Hidan's muffled cry, Fran felt a surge of uncontrollable chakra flow through her body. They all gasped at the sight of the visible chakra that glowed around her, illuminating her entire figure. The power was so incredible that Fran bent over, clutching her knees, squeezing her eyes shut.

Suddenly, before their very eyes, she began to transform. Her hair turned a rich, shiny black and her skin took on a rosy complexion. Her eyes became so blue and clear that they almost resembled crystals.

Sakura gasped, realising what had happened.

She's mastered her Majigan! She thought.

"Impressive," said Orochimaru: "It might even be worth to try you out. Kabuto, I'll leave Sakura to you. I'm sure she'll enjoy a conversation on Sasuke."

Sakura gasped at the name and whipped around to face Kabuto.

"You thought that by leading us into your hands you were gonna win? What a joke, Kabuto," Sakura spat out his name, glaring fiercely at the young man who smiled sardonically at her.

Orochimaru walked slowly over to Fran, watching her closely with interest and evident curiosity.

"Well then, little Fran," he said: "shall we begin?"


	32. Chapter 32

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Fran growled with uncontrollable rage and flew towards Orochimaru, raising her hands in preparation for attacking. Orochimaru opened his mouth wide and gigantic serpents emerged from it, flying towards Fran. But with one sharp nail she beheaded them all before they could even reach her.

Orochimaru gasped, glaring at this transformed creature, who glowed with refined beauty and exploding power.

How could this be? He thought angrily.

Fran dashed towards him in a flash and dove her knife-like nails into his arm, which he held infront of him to protect his heart. He bit his lips hard to prevent himself from crying out at the searing pain that shot through the freshly inflicted gash on his arm.

"Red certainly suits you, would you like some more of it?" Fran taunted, diving once again towards him. Orochimaru quickly dodged her attack and aimed a sharp punch at her gut, but she kicked at his arm, grabbing it with her leg and crushing it.

This time he really did cry out as he felt the bones shattering in it. His arm fell limply at his side, and he drew in sharp breaths, glaring ferociously at Fran.

"You little devious monster! You hideous demon! I will give your bastard boyfriend hell for this! And then I'll rip you apart limb from worthless limb!" Orochimaru hissed in a vicious tone.

"Monster? Demon? Is that what you called me? I don't torture people and delight in their pain, or use them and then leave them stranded somewhere to die. You are the demon, Orochimaru, and if you think I'll let you so much as lay another finger on Hidan then you might as well go to hell! Where you belong!" Fran shouted, returning his venomous glares.

Meanwhile, Kabuto and Sakura were locked in brutal combat, attacking eachother viciously.

"Now now Sakura, you don't want Sasuke to see how ruthless you've become, do you?" the white-haired boy teased, smirking at the kunoichi.

"I'll show you who's ruthless!" Sakura shouted, punching him hard in the face.

Suddenly, Kabuto jumped back, and for a moment Sakura thought he was retreating. Then she saw him grab a red scythe off the wall, which belonged to Hidan, and dashed towards.

"Fight this!" he yelled, bringing it down on her.

Sakura jumped and kicked him in his gut, but he merely swung around and struck her in her stomach with the scythe, punching the pole into her skin.

Weakly, she crumbled to the ground, grasping her stomach with her hand, trying hard to heal herself. But taking the advantage, Kabuto approached her, smiling sardonically.

"Do not worry, Sakura. I'll say goodbye to Sasuke for you," said Kabuto, and with that, he raised his scythe and swung it down towards the girl.


	33. Chapter 33

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

Only to find a long, silver blade connecting sharply with it.

Surprised, Kabuto raised his eyes towards the one who had stopped him from killing Sakura, and his heart nearly stopped.

It was Sasuke who gazed back at him.

"Sasuke?" Kabuto said in shock.

Sakura gasped, staring with disbelief at her beloved Sasuke, who stood beside her, blocking Kabuto's scythe from advancing towards her.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kabuto demanded, staring hard into Sasuke's Sharingan eyes.

"I cannot allow you to kill my former friends," said Sasuke.

"S-Sas-suk-ke..." Sakura whispered.

"Sakura...are you hurt?" asked Sasuke, still looking at Kabuto.

"N-no...I d-don't think s-so," Sakura replied.

Sasuke withdrew his blade sharply and stepped back infront of Sakura, protecting her.

Slowly, Sakura stood up and crept close to Sasuke, trying hard not to touch him, even though she was desperate to feel him once more.

"Sasuke?" Orochimaru hissed, noticing the familiar figure who had intruded upon them.

"Your days of using me are over. When you captured your old friend, Hidan is it? I realised then that I had no reason to believe you were not going to treat me in the same way. All you ever really wanted was immortality, but you know what? You're not getting it!" Sasuke shouted, and suddenly whipped around and sank the blade into the unsuspecting snake's heart.

Orochimaru coughed out blood, and his hair fell over his face. He swayed and fell in a heap on the floor, staring lifelessly at Sasuke's ankles.

To confirm his victory, Sasuke raised the blade once more and sank into his lungs, puncturing them savagely.

"You will bother us no more," said Sasuke, staring emotionlessly down at the dead tyrant.

"L-lord O-Oroch-chimaru?" Kabuto stammered, unable to take in what he had just witnessed.

"You're next, Kabuto," said Sasuke, turning to face the dead master's assistant.

"N-no! Sasuke w-wait! I-I can change! R-really!" Kabuto begged, staggering as he moved backwards.

Snapping out of her shock, Fran managed to deactivate her Majigan and ran towards Hidan. Bending down before him, she immediately began to untie him, careful not to touch any of his wounds.

Sakura ran over to her and began to heal him, starting from his chest.

"Will he be okay?" Fran asked, cradling Hidan's head in her hands, gently stroking his hair.

"I can only give him first aid, but he should be okay. After all, it looks like he's immortal," said Sakura.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was raising his blood soaked blade upon Kabuto's head, ready to dive it into his head.

But suddenly, someone yelled out: "No! Stop Sasuke!"

It was Kakashi, and he, Yamato, Sai and Naruto had just arrived.

"S-Sasuke?" said Naruto, staring wide-eyed at his old friend.

Lowering his blade, Sasuke said: "You're lucky, Kabuto. Another second and your life would have been history."

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled joyfully, rushing towards him.

"Naruto," said Sasuke, turning to face him.

"Sasuke, please, say you'll come with us. Please, we're your friends. We care about you and we always will! I'll never give you up Sasuke, no matter how many times you try to kill me, never, because you're my friend," said Naruto.

Sasuke lowered his head and smiled, then said: "I was foolish."

"It doesn't matter! Forget it! Forget everything!" said Naruto.

And tentatively, the blond boy placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and suddenly realised that the curse mark had disappeared.

Because now, Orochimaru was dead, and nothing remained of him.

"Yamato, Sai, go free the prisoners. I'll take care of things here," said Kakashi.

As the two raced out, Kakashi placed a sleeping jutsu on Kabuto and then moved towards Fran. He realised that the young man beside her was wearing the Akatsuki cloak. Torn and blood-stained though it was, he could still identify the familiar red clouds printed on it.

"Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Fran.

"How come you know this man, Fran?" asked Kakashi.

Fran bowed her head guiltily and murmured: "Long story."

When Sakura and Kakashi moved to greet Sasuke, Fran asked Hidan: "Is it true then? You're immortal? Is that why Orochimaru kidnapped you?"

"Yeah," Hidan whispered: "But that doesn't mean that I don't age or that I'll stay alive if I don't eat or breath. I just don't die when attacked physically."

"It's a good thing too, or I would have lost you," said Fran: "I don't even want to think about losing you, it hurts too much to even imagine it. I don't ever want to lose you," said Fran.

"You won't yet, sweetie. Not until I grow old and die," said Hidan.

"That's a long way off!" Fran giggled, caressing his face.


	34. Chapter 34

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

With Kakashi's help, Fran managed to get Hidan to the Leaf village while Yamato carried Orochimaru's body. Sasuke carried the sleeping Kabuto and Sakura, Sai and Naruto followed behind them. As soon as they arrived at the village, Orochimaru was taken to the autopsy room, Kabuto imprisoned to be interrogated later on and Hidan taken to the hospital.

Later that day, Fran explained the story of how she and Hidan had gotten involved together to Kakashi, Yamato and of course, Tsunade and Shizune.

"He's harmless Lady Tsunade, I promise! He had numerous chances to kill me and instead saved my life! He could have come to the village and gone for Naruto! Please consider this Lady Tsunade!" Fran begged the blonde woman who sat behind her desk in her small office.

"I can't believe I'm currently taking care of an Akatsuki, what pure madness!" sighed Tsunade exasperatedly: "You do know how much we searched for him don't you? And all this time you knew him inside out and never said a word about the matter! I can't deny that I'm displeased with you Fran."

"I understand milady but please, please try to understand my situation! I love him..." said Fran, rather embarrassed at having to confess something like this before these adults.

Tsunade sighed and ran a hand through her pigtails, watching Fran with concern rather than frustration.

"Lady Tsunade, perhaps we should give him a chance, at least for Fran's sake," said Shizune timidly.

"I agree," said Yamato: "We should still be careful but I think Fran has a point here."

"Hm," said Tsunade, then sighed once more and said: "Fine. But if he puts one toe out of line I'll have to take matters into my own hands. Is that understood?"

"Yes! Thank you so much milady!" said Fran cheerfully, relieved that she had accepted.

"Good. You should go talk to him, tell him what I said," Tsunade suggested, though placing it forward as an order.

Fran nodded and turned to leave, eager to get to Hidan.

But Kakashi had one last thing to say.

"By the way missy, Sakura knew about this didn't she?"

Fran didn't answer, nor turn to look at him. She was secretly blushing.

"And you two schemed to take us there to get Sasuke when in reality you went to rescue your boyfriend, am I right?" asked Kakashi.

Fran turned around and smiled naughtily at him.

"Let's say you're right, what came out of it? Orochimaru is dead and Sasuke has returned," said Fran.

"Cheeky little runt," said Kakashi jokingly, inwardly glowing with pride.

When Fran had left, Tsunade said: "You gotta hand it to the girl, she's certainly one who knows what to say."

"But think about it milady," said Shizune: "Something good really comes out of everything. If Fran hadn't befriended the Akatsuki member, they would never have gone to rescue him and Orochimaru would still be alive, and Sasuke still with him."

"True, I couldn't agree with you more here," said Tsunade: "Wait until Jiraya hears that our old teammate is dead. I wonder how he'll take it."

Fran walked inside the hospital room where Hidan was being kept. She moved towards his bed and realised that he was sleeping. As she sat down on the bed next to him, she noticed that most of his injuries had been cured, and since Tsunade was an expert medical ninja, no scars were left behind either.

Tentatively, she reached out with her hand and began stroking his silver hair, which had been slicked back again. Feeling her touch, he stirred and slowly opened his dark violet eyes. When he caught sight of her, he smiled and gingerly caught her hand in his.

"How are you, my immortal?" asked Fran.

"Much better sweetie," he replied.

"I was talking to the Hokage, she said that she'll accept you here if you don't cause any trouble," Fran explained.

"I see. Actually, to tell you the truth, I was thinking of leaving the Akatsuki," said Hidan.

"Really? You're serious?" Fran gasped, amazed at this statement.

"Yeah. I don't really care about their goals anyway, and spending more time with you is way more important to me now," Hidan admitted.

"Wow, that's awesome! I'm so happy! But, how will they take it?" asked Fran.

"I don't really know, but I'm not scared of them. After what I went through with Orochimaru, I doubt anything could be worse," said Hidan.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Fran, and then, she suddenly remembered: "Oh my! I almost forgot! I found your amulet!"

"Really? You found it for me?" said Hidan.

"Yep!" said Fran, taking it out of her pocket and dropping it in his hand.

"Thanks, it means a lot to me," said Hidan.

Fran smiled and leaned in to kiss him tenderly on his cheek.

She was glad that things were turning out alright after all.


	35. Chapter 35

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS. THIS IS JUST A FAN-MADE STORY!

A couple of weeks later, Hidan was out of the hospital, fully recovered without the slightest sign of a wound on him. Now he had just one final thing to do: defect from the Akatsuki.

He ran through the forest, his scythe on his back once more and his Jashin amulet around his neck.

On his way there, he was spotted by Zetsu, who was concealed in the depths of a tree.

Well well, look who's coming back, he thought.

He arrived at the Akatsuki hideout before Hidan did to report to the others.

"Pein, guess who's coming back?" said Zetsu's white half.

"Who...is it Hidan?" asked Pain.

At the mention of his partner's name, Kakuzu turned around to listen.

"Yes, he is returning as we speak," Zetsu answered.

"Here that Kakuzu? The whiny loser's coming back! Hm!" said Deidara.

Kakuzu did not answer. He had felt uneasy ever since Hidan had been kidnapped, because he had realised how much Hidan had been bothered when Kakuzu said that he hated him. Evidently, though obviously not particularly fond of him, Hidan did not feel the same way towards Kakuzu, and this made him regret his harshness towards the young man, who at the end of the day, whiny though he was, was patient enough to follow him around on his bounty missions.

Soon, Hidan returned, and joyfully yelled: "I'm back!"

"Good to see you've returned safely, Hidan," said Pain.

"Hah! Yeah, but for all your trash talkin' you still got kidnapped, didn't you? Hm!" Deidara yelled triumphantly.

"So what blondie! It doesn't matter anymore...I'm leaving you guys," said Hidan.

The others fell silent, inwardly shocked at this.

"Leaving?...For good?" said Pain.

"Yeah...sorry but, I've found something else more important to me," said Hidan.

"What, another religion?" asked Kisame, grinning to himself.

"Hidan, if you must leave, I won't stop you. But on one condition: You can never again return and you will have nothing more to do with us as soon as you step out of here," said Pain.

"Yeah yeah, sure, I got it," said Hidan.

"Good. Then take your leave," said Pain.

Hidan turned to leave, but suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.

Curious, he turned around, to see Kakuzu standing there.

"What is it big guy?" asked Hidan.

"Hidan, I apologise if I said that I hated you. It was foolish of me," said Kakuzu.

"Aaww really? Doesn't matter, just forget it! K?" said Hidan, and smiled at his partner in a friendly way.

"Until we meet again," said Kakuzu, and held out his hand.

Grinning, Hidan took it and said: "Man! You just can't get enough of me can you?"

"Oh for the sake of my art, you two are making me sick here, hm!" Deidara whined loudly.


End file.
